DreamScape
by tina00
Summary: A 24 year old English teacher from New York moves to Mystic Falls to accept a teaching job at the local High School.  But Mystic Falls has more waiting for her than just a job...she will literally meet the man of her dreams.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**Hey readers! This is my first Vampire Diaries fic, I just finished a Covenant fic called _City Lights In The Town of Ipswich, _so check it out if you're interested.**

**I have some ideas for where I want this go to, but I would love some comments on how you think it's starting out. Good, bad or ugly…let me know what you think! Without the comments, there's no telling if it's worth continuing...so please share your thoughts :-)**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

I knew he was here by how suddenly cold the room became. That always happened seconds before he appeared.

I still don't know how he gets in…Hell I don't even know his name.

What I do know is that when he's in the room…a mixture of fear and excitement takes over me. We've barely spoken five words to each other, but I know every inch of his body, and I'm pretty sure he knows every inch of mine.

I always tell myself that the next time he comes, I'll stop him. I won't just give into him…I'll ask questions. I'll know his name, I'll know why he chose me…I'll know everything I want to know about him…

That's what I tell myself, but that's never what I do. The second I feel the cold air around me, my words get caught in my throat and I let him do whatever he wants.

He's here now…

I roll over in my bed to look at him. Our eyes lock and I want so badly to speak, I want so badly to ask all of the questions that are burning a hole in my mind, but I can't. It's as if he has me under some kind of spell that prohibits me from speaking. I can moan and beg for more…I've even screamed quite a few times. But when it comes to saying something as simple as "Hey…what's your name?" I'm completely mute.

Normally speaking he's pretty straight forward and to the point. Not a whole lot of foreplay and seducing necessary for him. But tonight he's different for some reason.

He gets into my bed and kisses me softly, then instead of ripping my clothes off like he normally would, he put his arms around me and just laid there. He didn't say a word, the only sound was his soft breathing. My body was tense and anxious, I wasn't used to this, and to be perfectly honest…I didn't know how to react.

"No sex tonight, I just need to hold you…" He said, and let out a sigh.

The sound of his voice instantly set my body at ease. I relaxed in his arms and rested my head against his chest.

His body is always so cold, you would think he has a body temperature of zero. But I like it…That's the last thing I remember thinking before I fall back to sleep…

* * *

The sound of the alarm clock and the glaring August sun in my face wakes me up from a very…very deep sleep.

I pound my hand several times on the alarm clock before it stops beeping.

'I'm going to need an alarm clock with a bigger snooze button…' Is my first thought before my eyes fully open.

My second thought is about him. It's never the same dream twice…but it's always the same main character.

This has been going on for over a year. There have been times when he shows up every night for weeks, and times when I don't see him for a month straight. Every night I go to bed not knowing if he'll show up. There is a part of me that doesn't understand it, which is terrifying. But I can't deny the part of me that loves every second of it.

He's the most handsome man I've ever seen…real life, dream life…doesn't matter, he's that good looking. Tall, jet black hair, the bluest eyes you can imagine.

You know how when you're watching a TV show or a movie and there's a really good looking guy, and you think to yourself 'How come none of the guys around here look like that?' Well that's him. I guess my subconscious blended together every one of my favorite features on a guy and this is what it came up with, because I can bet my last dollar that there is not a man in real life that looks as good as does. And it's a damn shame.

After I shake the thoughts from my head, I force myself up.

All my bags are packed, furniture is in the moving van. All I have left is a few odds and ends and I will be on my way to Mystic Falls.

I can't believe I'm actually going through with this. When my cousin first mention the idea of taking a teaching job in Virginia, obviously my response was something like…'Have you lost your fucking mind?'

But after a few minutes of convincing me that it would be a good change for me…I started to listen to her argument.

I'm from New York and 3 months ago I officially became a certified high school English teacher. Congratulations to me right? Wrong…

Since New York is on a bit of a hiring freeze…me having a nice shiny diploma means shit, and with 25K in student loans hanging over my head, I needed a job, like yesterday.

Enter cousin Tyra, whose mother-in-law happens to be the principal of Mystic Falls High School. One thing led to another, and well…you can refer to me as Ms. Cardella, freshman English teacher.

Me… Jeanne Cardella…I always thought the furthest I would ever move is Jersey, and here I am heading to Virginia. I'm not normally this bold, but like I said…I need a job, and if Mystic Falls is offering one…then to Mystic Falls I go.

Besides, a change of scenery might do me good.

I just hope I can cope with leaving the city that never sleeps, for a place that sounds like it sleeps a lot.

Well, too late to back out now anyway. After a quick shower, I will be behind an eyesore of a U-Haul and 8 hours away from my new life…wish me luck!

* * *

"Where were you last night?" Stefan asked his brother after coming in from a run

"I was out" Damon responded in his usual non-descript way.

"Oh weird…because when I asked where you were last night, I just assumed you would say you were here." Stefan answered sarcastically while walking to the fridge to get a fresh bag.

"You always go out and come back at the same exact time…it's actually kind of bizarre." Stefan continued with his head in the refrigerator.

"Is there a reason you're timing me as I come and go? You have a girlfriend…I'm pretty sure there are more important things you can be doing with your time." Damon responded while looking through the paper.

"I'm just saying…It's been going on for a while, and it's always at the same exact times. I know your not hunting, I just thought you might tell me where it is you're going…but I guess you're still too much of a douche bag to have a normal conversation with." Stefan said with a smile.

Damon smiled back…"That I am brother."

"Whatever, I'm going to shower." And with that Stefan left the room.

Damon didn't really understand what happened to him last night. Why he didn't have sex with her, why he didn't want to have sex with her. It's not that he wasn't attracted to her, because lord knows she's been the only woman he's been attracted to in a very long time. But last night he just wanted to feel her in his arms. He needed her to comfort him. He wanted it to feel almost normal. Like a couple, lying in bed together. Ok, so maybe he's completely messing with her subconscious, and maybe there's nothing normal about his visits to her at night…but he just wanted to feel for one night like something about him was normal. And she's the only woman who can make him feel that. His brother may have that in real life, with a real breathing human being…but he couldn't. He knew it was too dangerous, and he cared about her too much to ever even attempt it. Besides, she lived thousands of miles away, it was much safer this way…for both of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

**Please let me know what you think by clicking that little review button...it would be much appreciated :-)**

There's a lot to be said about driving over 400 miles by yourself with all your worldly possessions packed in bubble wrap. I made it to Mystic Falls in a little over 8 hours, stopping only twice to pee and fill up on coffee.

The majority of my drive was spent thinking about that dream I had last night. Like I said, I've been having these dreams for a while now, and they were always the same. Maybe the positions were different…but the activity never was, until last night. When the dreams first started, I have to be honest…I was a little freaked out. I had never seen this man before, and I didn't understand why out of no where I was having porno dreams about some stranger…well, I still don't understand it…but I guess I've gotten used to it.

I know it doesn't make any sense but I swear, one time I woke up and had marks on my neck! I know…I know, I must have just scratched myself in my sleep or something.

I guess there's a part of me that wishes he were real. I haven't had sex since I broke up with my boyfriend, a year ago. If it weren't for my late night dream booty calls, I probably would have lost a part of my sanity by now.

Actually…I have a sexual relationship with a figment of my imagination…I guess I've lost more than just a part of my sanity.

Anyway, back to last night. I just can't stop thinking about it. Something was wrong with him. I could just tell by how tense his body was. If only I could speak to him, and ask him what was wrong…

"Stop it Jeanne, it's a dream…he's not a real person…and you sound crazy. And now you're talking to yourself, which is even crazier…I'm going to put on the radio now." I said to myself and put on the radio as loud as it can go just to drown out the crazy person dialog inside my head.

It was around 7:30 when I drove down the tree-lined street that my new home was on. It really was a surreal experience. I drove slowly looking at all the quaint homes with porches and front lawns. It looked like a painting…. definitely not what I'm used to coming from Brooklyn. Don't get me wrong, Brooklyn is great…and I'm sure it has a lot to offer that Mystic Falls doesn't…but this is just, pretty...

I grabbed my phone and opened up the email from the realtor. 2614 Pine Brook Road. My little house was just so damn cute…and I was paying the same exact in rent that I was paying for a studio apartment in Brooklyn! And the studio apartment didn't come with a porch and a front lawn. Maybe this isn't going to be so hard getting used to after all.

I pulled the U-haul into the driveway and hopped out. It was early August and the warm air smelled clean and fresh. The sun was getting ready to call it a night, but was still bright enough to light up the street. I could even hear birds chirping…I sat on the steps in front of my new home and took in my peaceful surroundings.

"WELL IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Tyra screeched as she ran up the driveway towards the house…ending my peaceful interlude that lasted all of 4 minutes.

We hadn't seen each other since last Christmas when she and her husband came up to New York, and seeing her now made me realize just how much I missed her.

After catching up about life and the family, she helped me bring some bags in the house. With it now being past 9, I really didn't feel like unpacking the moving van…besides, I was going to need to recruit some muscle to help with the furniture.

"Wanna grab some dinner? You have to be starving..." Tyra asked after dropping some more bags of clothing in the middle of the empty living room.

"Yeah, actually I am. All I really had today was a lot of coffee."

"So come on, we'll go to the grill…the foods really good, and I'll introduce you to some people."

It wasn't hard to convince me. I was starving and in no position to turn down meeting new people. So, I freshened up in the bathroom, and we jumped in her car and headed to the grill.

* * *

"So did Damon ever tell you where he disappears to at night?" Elena asked while folding laundry in Stefan's bedroom

He laughed…"Did you think he would? Whatever, there's no point in trying to figure him out, as long as he's not hunting humans or killing people for sport then it's none of my business…and I'm ok with that."

"Yeah, well…leaving at the same exact time, and coming back at the same exact time almost every single night is pretty creepy…"

"A lot of things about Damon are creepy but as long as I'm not involved…and you're not involved, then we're not involved…and that's a good thing." Stefan replied kissing Elena on the lips. "Come on, I have to go talk to Ric about something, he's at the grill with your aunt."

"Nah, you go…I'll stay here. I have some studying to catch up on anyway." Elena said as she pulled some books out of her bag.

"Ok, I'll be back in a bit." Stefan answered and headed downstairs.

He opened the front door to walk out just as Damon was walking in.

"Hey…I'm going to see Ric now to talk about the new weapons he was telling us about, you wanna come?" Stefan asked his brother.

"Uh yeah, I'll come…but I can't stay. I'll drive…you can get a ride back with Ric." Damon said as he walked back out to his shiny black Ferrari. The brothers got in the car and headed over to the grill.

* * *

"Well I've only been here for about 2 hours, but so far so good. The town is just beautiful…and Tyra was telling me there's a lot of local history, I'm a big nerd for that type of stuff…" I said with a laugh as I sat at the table with Tyra and her friends, Jenna and Ric.

As it turns out, Ric works at the school also, so he's definitely a good person to meet on my first day in town. Luckily I planned my move so that I would have at least a month before school started up. I figured this would give me time to get settled in, become familiar with the area, maybe even make a friend or two?

"Yeah, I'm actually very involved in the Mystic Falls Historical Society, so any time you want to learn about centuries old town gossip…I'm the one you want to talk to." Jenna said.

The four of us chatted a while over our burgers. Ric filled me in on school politics, who I want to stay away from, who's ass I might want to kiss.

Jenna and Tyra told me about the area nightlife, which apparently is the grill…and not much else.

I must say though, for a Thursday night, the grill had a pretty nice crowd…so maybe this really is the place to see and be seen.

I excused myself to the bathroom and left the 3 chatting at the table. As I was waiting on line for the restroom, a friend from back home called. With the jukebox playing and all the background noise, it was just too hard to hear. I slipped out a back door to fill my friend in on Mystic Falls…

* * *

"So why can't you stay long? Where do you have to go?" Stefan asked as Damon pulled the Ferrari into a parking spot.

"Why are so you so concerned with my life all of a sudden?" Damon asked, with no intentions on telling his brother anything.

"Just curious."

"Yeah well curiosity kills people."

"I thought just cats…"

"Nope, kills just about everybody" Damon responded and held the door open for his brother.

The pair walked in and surveyed the busy restaurant. They spotted Ric and headed over to the table.

After everyone exchanging their hellos, Ric and the Salvatores excused themselves and went over to the bar for a drink, leaving Tyra and Jenna at the table.

Tyra sighed while looking at Damon from across the room. "There's something just not right about him. Sexy as hell, and don't tell my husband that, but his whole persona is just so…dark." She said to Jenna as she sipped her drink.

Jenna turned around and checked Damon out for a moment, then turned back. "Well, he's always wearing all black…maybe that's why his persona is so dark." She said with a chuckle. "I don't know, Ric seems to like him, and Stefan is a good guy…I guess Damon is just the blacksheep."

"Hey, where's your cousin? She's been gone for like 15 minutes…" Jenna asked looking towards the bathroom just as I was walking back in.

"Sorry I took so long, I was bragging to my friend about all the clean air I'm currently breathing." I said and slid back into the booth.

The second I sat down I felt that familiar cold feeling. The feeling I only feel late at night when I'm in the deepest layer of sleep, and he shows up. I felt the chills run down my body.

I turned and looked around in a panic with this weird feeling as if I would see him standing there. Which would make no sense whatsoever since I am very much awake right now. But it was a feeling I couldn't even describe. I could swear he was there with me, but he wasn't…of course he wasn't.

After a few seconds, I was able to shake the feeling and my body temperature went back to normal. Tyra, Jenna and I were having a conversation about the upcoming 'End of Summer' festival that Mystic Falls was hosting next weekend when Ric came back to the table with a friend.

"Jeanne, this is Stefan…Stefan, this is Tyra's cousin Jeanne…she just moved here from New York."

Stefan and I shook hands and he and Ric joined us at the table.

"Jeanne is actually going to be a teacher at the High School starting in September, so you should probably get used to calling her Ms. Cardella." Ric added.

"Oh, are you a student at the school?" I asked…even though he did look a little old to be in high school..

"Uh, yea …I'm a senior. I'm actually dating Jenna's niece. It's a small town, so you'll see a lot of familiar faces in the school and out." Stefan said with a smile.

There was something very wise beyond his years about this kid…I thought to myself.

"Actually, if you're looking to earn some brownie points, you can grab Jeremy and some of the guys and help Jeanne bring her furniture into the house." Jenna said, knowing that I was going to need some serious help unloading that truck.

"I'd be happy to help." Stefan responded

"Where did Damon go" Jenna asked, nonchalantly.

"Oh, he had to go take care of some things, so I actually kind of need a ride home" Stefan said with a boyish charm type of smile…

Ric was about to offer but Tyra beat him to it.

"You live in the old boarding house right? I have to drop Jeanne off and it's only a block away from you, I could give you a lift."

"That would be great…thank you"

With that, we all paid the check for the food and drinks and said our goodbyes. I exchanged phone numbers with Jenna and Ric with plans to see them again in the future and we all went our separate ways.

The car ride was just general conversation about the town and things a new comer needs to know. Closest pharmacy, best pizza, biggest mall…things like that. Within 10 minutes Tyra slowed down in front of what can't be considered a house…but more along of the lines of an estate. It was dark, massive, and beautiful. There was a black Ferrari parked in front. Clearly this Stefan kid was loaded...

"Thanks so much Tyra, and it was a pleasure meeting you Jeanne…I'll get some of the guys and come by tomorrow say around 2pm?"

"That's great Stefan, thanks so much."

With that Stefan got out and headed towards his house.

Tyra asked if I wanted to spend the night at her house, since my bed was in a truck, but I declined. I brought a blanket in earlier, and I was really anxious to spend my first night in my new home, even if it was on a hardwood floor.

Tyra offered to come over the following day when the boys were bringing the furniture in to help me set the place up, which I gratefully agreed to.

We said our goodbyes and I went inside.

I ruffled through my bags to find a tank top to change into and found my blanket and pillow. I brushed my teeth, turned out the lights and went to sleep on my bedroom floor…

I wonder if I'll see him tonight…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

**Hope you're all liking it so far...this chapter gives a little background knowledge, more to come in future chapters. Please review and let me know what you think :-)**

So here's how the dreams usually go. They always start out with me sleeping in my bed, just like I would actually be doing in real life. The cold sudden chills wake me from my sleep, I open my eyes and he's standing next to me. We spend the entire night together, hours and hours of the most amazing sex my body could stand. Once we're both completely drained, he wraps his arms around me. I rest my head on his bare chest and I close my eyes…and that's when my alarm goes off. It's morning…I'm alone…and he was never really there.

You can't imagine the frustration of waking up and realizing that once again, the best night of your life didn't actually happen. Even worse, I wake up in the morning exhausted because I feel like I didn't get a minute of sleep! The dreams feel so real that they actually have a physical effect on me.

Maybe I should see a doctor. Like one of those hypno-therapist people that put those weird sticky things on your head to monitor your brainwaves. I would do it if my dreams weren't so damn perverted…

Going to sleep that first night in my new home was, well, I was scared!

I haven't slept in a new place in years, and you know how houses all have their own sets of weird noises, well this one is no exception. There's pipes clanking, wind blowing, something scratching against a window…I'm going to pray that it's a tree branch.

Luckily it's been a long and exhausting day, and despite the creepy noises, all I want to do is sleep…and within 5 minutes, I give in to my exhaustion and allow my subconscious to take over for the night.

"Where are you?" He asks as he stands above me looking around at the empty house.

I open my eyes feeling the chills and hearing his voice at the same time.

"I moved." I respond, and the second the words leave my mouth, I gasp.

I spoke, I was able to speak to him…I've never been able to speak to him until just now.

I sit up abruptly.

He laughs. He knows why I'm so shocked.

"How am I able to talk? I'm never able to talk around you."

"Because I'm letting you"

"So why don't you always let me?" I asked as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Because the less you know about me, the better." He said as he pulled the blanket off and laid down on the floor next to me. "If you're able to talk then you'll start asking questions that I'm not going to answer. It's better for both of us this way…trust me."

"So do you want to talk…or do something else?" He asked, as his finger circled around my belly button.

Talk! Jeanne you want to talk! You have a million questions, now is your chance to get the answers!

That's what I said in my head. But that's not what I said out loud…and that's definitely not what my body said when his hand started to inch south of my belly button.

And that was it…I blew my chance. From this point forward all talking ceased and a lot of heavy breathing took it's place.

One of these nights I'll know more about him. If only he wasn't so irresistible, then maybe I'd be able to resist him…

* * *

Damon sat in his car and waited for the light to turn green.

He has to stop going to see her. What the fuck was he thinking last night, actually talking to her? And why did she move? Is she still in New York? If she's living with someone, he's not going to be able to see her anymore…is she living with a guy?

After a series of questions ran through Damon's mind, he realized what was going on…

He's becoming too attached.

It's been happening for a while now. He hasn't slept with anyone else since he started visiting her at night. That's unheard of for Damon. The only other woman he has ever been faithful to died sometime in the late 1800's.

Everyone notices it. The brother who was known for going through women like Lindsay Lohan goes through bottles of vodka, was now…according to everyone who knows him…celibate. Damon and celibacy don't even belong in the same language, let alone the same sentence. But as far as everyone is concerned…he hasn't so much as given any other female a second glance. And as far as he's concerned…he has no reason to.

She's the only one he thinks about, and aside from her name…he doesn't even know anything about her. It's not because he can't know anything about her. He's in her apartment almost every night, he could know everything straight down to her social security number if he chose to. But at least he's been smart about that. The more he knows about her, the more she'll take over him…and he can not let that happen.

Part of the allure is knowing he can't drink from her. Since she thinks her interactions with him are all a dream, he knows he can't leave any marks. He did one time and didn't have the nerve to go back to her for a month. Eventually she convinced herself that she somehow scratched herself in the form of two small dots on her neck. It's amazing how the mind makes logic of the illogical.

The idea that he still has a desire to see her, and her blood has nothing to do with it is an overpowering emotion for Damon. Since he's been a vampire, he hasn't really experienced that feeling with anyone else. He has to visit her less…actually he has to stop visiting her all together, but...

Damon drove quietly down the streets of Mystic Falls towards the high school. He promised Elena and Caroline he would help them take out some boxes of decorations for next week's End of Summer festival. He has to stop promising to help people…he really doesn't like to help people.

He drove by a house with a U-Haul parked in the driveway. He groaned in disgust…"God I had new people in my town." He said aloud as he drove by.

* * *

With no alarm to wake me up, I slept much later than I normally would. I didn't wake up until almost 10, and even with 8 hours sleep…I still felt like I need more.

I forced myself up and into the shower. Once I was showered and dressed, I still had a some time before Tyra, Stefan and the others would be here to help, and there was no food or drinks in the house whatsoever. How embarrassing to not even have a glass of soda to offer them…

I decided to head over to the local market to stock up on some groceries. Unfortunately, until I get a car, I'm going to have to keep my shopping light.

Get a car…that's next of my list of things to do before school starts.

Once I returned home, I started to empty out the U-haul. The stuff I was able to carry anyway. I was actually proud at how much I had gotten done on my own. All I need now is some furniture and I'll be good to go!

* * *

"What time did you say you have leave?" Elena asked Stefan as she searched through a box for some banner.

"I have to get Jeremy and be at her house at 2, so like 1:45?" Stefan answered while trying to figure out why a science text book, clown shoes, and a roll of duct tape were all in the same box.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked leaning against a fence…not really helping in the slightest.

"You know Jenna's friend Tyra? Her cousin just moved to Mystic Falls and is teaching here in September. I offered to help bring her furniture in."

"The house around the block from us with the U-Haul out front? I saw it when I was driving here."

"Yeah I think that's it…you wanna come help?"

"Um, no, I made a promise to myself on my way here that I wasn't going to help people do things anymore."

"Yeah, I can see that." Elena interjected

"Oh please, I pulled that box out." Damon said defensively

"It was empty." Elena and Caroline said simultaneously.

Damon rolled his eyes and put his sunglasses on. "Whatever, I'm leaving anyway…Mayor Lockwood is having a council lunch."

"I can't believe you still go to council meetings." Stefan said as he attempted to un-tangle a string of lights.

"Why can't you believe it? These people get turned on at the thought of killing vampires, we're vampires…if I'm going to destroy all of their plans, I need to know what the plans are in the first place." Damon said with a wicked smile…then got in his car and drove off.

"So is he still not dating anyone?" Caroline asked in her usual gossipy way.

"No one he takes out in public." Elena responded

"Ooo what does that mean?" Caroline asked, stopping whatever it was she was doing

"It doesn't mean anything." Stefan chimed in

"Well, almost every night he slips out at the same time…2:06am…and he always comes back at the same time…5:41am…it's always the same exact time, to the minute." Elena said.

"That's really weird…so where do you think he's going?

Elena shrugged her shoulders…"No one knows…"

"So why don't you follow him?" Caroline insisted

"Because it's none of our business." Stefan said, amused by the girls nosiness.

"Besides, he doesn't take his car. He just walks outside and then disappears." Elena added.

"Ok, as much as fun as it is to talk about Damon's whereabouts…I gotta get going. I'll see you girls later." Stefan kissed Elena and left.

* * *

It was around 4:30 when the truck was completely unloaded and all of the furniture was where it should be.

I couldn't thank Stefan and his friend Jeremy enough for all of their help. Without them, it would be Christmas and I'd still be unloading the truck.

The deal was that now I had to put in a good word for them with their teachers once school started. It was the least I can do.

The boys left and Tyra stayed around helping me unpack. Slowly but surely, my house was beginning to look like a home…clothes in the closet, table cloth on the kitchen table, pictures on the walls. It was all very exciting…

"So, are you dating anyone?" Tyra asked, hoping the topic wasn't as sensitive as it was a year earlier.

I couldn't help but smile at her awkwardness over the subject. "No, I'm not dating anyone…and you don't have to say it like that. I'm much better now."

"Ok, good…you know that's part of the reason I wanted you to get out of New York. It'll be good for you to meet new people, be in a different environment for a little while…I will tell you this, Mystic Falls may be a small compared to New York, but the men in this town are sexy little devils" She said with a laugh.

"And I look forward to meeting all the sexy little devils I can." I smiled back, even though I'm not entirely sure how truthful that was.

I guess you're all wondering what has me so sensitive about relationships…well, a shitty ex-boyfriend is what has me so sensitive about relationships.

My last boyfriend (and only boyfriend) was my high school sweetheart. We started dating when I was a junior and he was a senior. We were together throughout college, even though we went to separate schools, we saw each other every weekend. We were even voted most likely to get married right after college. There was a time when I would have thought so too.

One night, he went out with some friends to celebrate his acceptance to law school. I thought they went out to dinner…turns out they went to a strip club, but ironically that's the least of my concerns.

He and I were going to his families cabin the following day, so instead of leaving his house extra early in the morning to pick me up, he just decided it would be easier if I spent the night at his house and we can leave together from the same place. I didn't mind. He picked me up at about 2am. It was only a 5 minute drive. We didn't make it.

Three blocks away from my house he blew a red light and an oncoming limo slammed into my side of the car. I learned later on that his blood alcohol level that night was 3 times the legal limit. Since that's the type of thing frowned upon by prestigious law schools, he left me there. Afraid of getting arrested and kicked out of NYU School of Law…he left the scene not knowing if I was alive or not. I had 4 broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and stitches in my neck from the shattered glass. He didn't have a scratch. Even worse? I didn't hear from him until 3 weeks later, when he called to 'check up on me'.

Coming to terms with the fact that the man you have loved since you were 16 years old, the man you gave your virginity to, and the man you whole heartedly thought you would marry one day, would leave you for dead to save his own ass was a pretty big pill to swallow.

But a month of recovery and his subsequent arrest (leaving the scene of a crime is a very serious offense!) I slowly but surely started to feel better…some of my friends even surprised me with a weekend away in New Orleans once I was fully healed, which helped a lot.

Now, when I look back I can't believe I spent so much of my time on such a worthless asshole. But that was then…and now I spend my time thinking about a man that doesn't exist. But at least if he doesn't exist, he can't hurt me…right?


	4. Chapter 4

Convincing himself to not go see her was like telling someone who's starving to not eat the Big Mac that's in front of them. It was nearly impossible. But last night was just too risky. Her new surroundings threw him off and he let his guard down.

But the desire to know more about her is starting to eat at him.

He wants to know why she moved, he wants to know when her birthday is, he wants to have dinner with her…or watch a movie.

He always thought that just going to her for sex would be enough, and Lord knows he can't complain about the sex one bit…but it's just not enough anymore.

And she wants to know him, she made that clear last night. He can lie…

After all, she thinks she's dreaming. She has no idea that it's all real.

But what would lying accomplish anyway? It doesn't even matter what she knows about him, in the morning she thinks it's all just in her mind. But if he tells her things about himself, truth or lies, then she'll tell him things about herself…and that's where it will get dangerous.

No, absolutely not…knowing anything more than her name is completely out of the question, he doesn't even want to know her last name, first name is more than enough.

If he continued to see her then he was just looking for trouble.

So he made his decision. He will not go see her anymore…

Just the thought enraged him. The idea of how unfair it is was almost comical. He finally found the one woman who could ground him, and make him feel normal…and he can't have her. Life is one big fucking joke.

God how he wishes he never made that trip to New Orleans last year…

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than I had in months. I wasn't as groggy as I usually was…which meant I had a dreamless sleep.

As much as the undisturbed sleep was very needed, the thought of not being with him last night was upsetting. Equally as upsetting was the constant realization of how not right in the head I am. I brushed the thoughts from my mind and got out of bed.

It was Saturday and the weather was just beautiful today. After doing some things around the house, I decided that today I was going to explore Mystic Falls. I considered giving Jenna a call so she can show me around, but I didn't want to be too pushy, and she's probably busy getting ready for the party. Besides…the best way to discover new places, is to get lost in them…so that's what I decided to do.

I walked up my block and took notice of all the well-kept homes. I introduced myself to a couple of neighbors who were out and about on the block…everyone is so friendly here. If you just randomly introduced yourself to someone in New York, neighbor or not…there's a good chance they thought you were crazy.

As I walked in no particular direction, I found myself walking past the museum Stefan calls a house. It looked like it was hundreds of years old, but very well maintained. I slowed down as I walked past, maybe even being a little nosey.

I noticed the black Ferrari again, God what I would give to drive that car. As the daughter of a mechanic, I've been trained to appreciate a piece of machinery as fine as that, and appreciate it I do. Which reminds me…I need to buy a car! One that's about a hundred thousand dollars less than that one, but a car nonetheless.

I continued walking and made random lefts and rights until I in no way knew how to get back home, even if I was ready to…but it's ok, because I wasn't ready to.

I saw in the distance what looked like a wooded area…so that's where I went.

Once I got closer I realized that it was an old cemetery. The headstones dated back to the late 1700's. Reading the names, and the ages I started to make up in my head what these people were like….and completely got lost in my thoughts. So much so that when the hand touched my shoulder I screamed. I hadn't even heard the footsteps come up behind me. I turned around in a panic and saw a young girl standing there. 16 maybe 17 years old?

"Oh my god, I am so sorry…I didn't mean to sneak up on you, I thought you heard me coming." She said apologetically.

I had to laugh at my reaction. "No don't be sorry, I was in a fog. I'm new to town so I'm just doing a little exploring…I hope it's ok that I'm here. This isn't private property or something is it?"

"No, no it's fine that you're here. Are you Tyra's cousin? The new teacher at school?" She asked, already pretty confident that she knew the answer…I guess not too many Yankees move into Mystic Falls..

"Yes that would be me, apparently I stand out. And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Elena, Jenna's niece. My boyfriend Stefan told me he was helping you move some furniture yesterday."

"He was a lifesaver, thank him again for me. And he spoke a lot about you, apparently helping me got him out of festival duty?"

Elena laughed…"Yeah, I'm sure he was thrilled. Well, I didn't mean to disturb you, I was just heading out."

"You know, I actually have no idea how I got here…so if you wouldn't mind, I'll walk out with you, maybe you can point me in the direction of where I live?"

Elena and I both laughed and began to walk.

She started to tell me about Stefan. She told me how his parents passed away and he lives with his older brother, Damon. I resisted the urge to ask what Damon does for a living to afford that car…if you haven't noticed; I'm in love with the car. As it turns out, Elena was actually going to the Boarding House herself, so she and I walked most of the way together.

Once we arrived in front of the house, I noticed that the Ferrari was visibly absent. She invited me in for lunch…which was very kind of her, but the teacher part of me came out and felt maybe it was a little inappropriate to be hanging out with students of the school I was going to work at?

I thanked her for the offer, but gave an excuse that I had some housework to do. We said our goodbyes and I continued to walk towards my house. I turned the corner and was stopped dead in my tracks. I was frozen in place, not by fear but by a feeling I couldn't really describe. It was the similar to the feeling I had in the restaurant when I thought he was there, but this time it was much, much stronger.

The hairs on my arm were standing straight up and my breathing was increasing as if I just ran 10 miles. I looked behind me and there was nothing, in front of me there was nothing. Then the wind from the Ferrari speeding down the block brought me back to my senses. I followed the car with my eyes and watched as it drove out of sight. Apparently Stefan's brother thinks he's Jeff Gordon, but if I had a Ferrari…I'd be driving it like that too.

After a second or two, I was able to shake the eerie feeling. It's weird, after a year of having these dreams, I've never had this feeling while awake, and now I've had it twice in two days? I'm losing my mind a lot quicker than I thought I would…

Damon had to look back as he drove down the street, but he was going too fast and she was already too far away. He could have sworn for a second that it was her. Not that it would even be possible, but he knows the shape of her body like he knows the alphabet. Clothed or not…and he did have to do a double take.

Maybe he's just having withdrawal symptoms. After all, he didn't go to her last night…and now he thinks he's seeing her walking down the street in Mystic Falls? Last time he was able to last a month without going to her, now he's starting to crack after one night? This does not look good for him…

* * *

"So I met the new teacher you were telling me about…she seems really nice." Elena said as she poured herself a glass of water in Stefan's kitchen.

"Yeah, she's cool…it's weird that she's so young, she doesn't seem old enough to be a high school teacher." Stefan responded as Damon walked into the kitchen.

"Please don't tell me that you two are talking about this new teacher chick also. Everywhere I go, the conversation is the new teacher in town."

"It's a small town, despite what you think…the general public doesn't really discuss vampire attacks and full moons, this is news to us…" Elena said with a smile.

"Actually, she told me Jenna called her to invite her over to the house tonight for Ric's birthday party. She said she was probably going to come…so you'll get to meet her tonight." Elena continued.

Damon stared at her blankly…"I can hardly wait." He said with his usual sarcastic smile, and left the room.

He was in a bad mood, and only two things helped him when he was like this...Sex and blood.…

Maybe at the party. Jenna has a lot of friends, he'll just have to settle for one of them for the night. Not that he hasn't already been with all them...twice. To be honest, compelling women into only remembering what you want them to remember may be one of the best perks of being a vampire.

* * *

So I've only been here for two days and I've already been invited to a party…that has to be a good sign. There seems to be a lot of buzz going on about my arrival, which coming from a city of 9 million people, is a little weird for me. I'm going to have to get used to this 'everybody knows your business' mentality…

I originally planned on going to the party with Tyra and her husband so I didn't have to walk in alone, but they promised Jenna they would come early to help set up…so it looks like alone I'll have to go.

Remembering Tyra's description of Mystic Falls men as 'sexy little devils' I put a little extra effort into my look tonight. If all eyes are gonna be on the new girl in town, I might as well give them something good to look at…right?


	5. Chapter 5

It was about 8:30 when I approached Jenna's house. Luckily it was easy to spot since it was the only house on the block with people hanging around outside.

As I walked closer I started to get a little nervous. There's something very intimidating about walking into a party alone, especially one where you don't know many people.

I decided that faking my confidence was my only option, so that's what I did. I walked up to the front door smiling at people as I passed. I pushed the front door open and couldn't believe how many people there were, Every room was crowded with people laughing and drinking.

The first person I recognized was my cousins husband Christian, who I haven't seen since I arrived to Mystic Falls. I rushed over and gave him a big hug. Honestly if not for him recommending me for the job to his mother, none of this would be happening. As we talked and caught up on life, I felt eyes on me. A lot of the people in the room heard about me, and I guess I was the only one there that people didn't know…so they put two and two together about who I was.

Christian had introduced me to a couple of people that he works with at the Sheriff's Department, and as is custom in Mystic Falls…everyone was extremely friendly.

I spotted Tyra and Jenna in the kitchen, so I worked my way through the crowd over to where they were. I offered to help Jenna but she insisted I grab a drink and hang out…so that's what I did.

Ric made it a point to introduce me to some of the fellow teachers at MFHS so I chatted it up with them for a bit. Unfortunately the amount of people I was being introduced to exceeded the amount of names I'm capable of remembering in one night…so I'm going to need a refresher course before September.

As I headed towards the kitchen to re-fill my cup, I bumped into Elena and a few of her friends. She introduced me to a Matt, Bonnie and Caroline…I think? At this point in the night, I was already a few drinks in…so I don't entirely have faith in my memorization skills.

As I was talking to the group, I got cold. It wasn't like the other two times when my body actually felt frozen, but I just felt cold all of a sudden. I brushed it off and continued on into the kitchen.

* * *

"Um, looks like your theory about Damon was wrong…" Caroline said as she nudged Elena towards Damon who was walking through the front door.

Following behind him was a petite blonde wearing a green dress with a yellow scarf around her neck. Damon worked his way through the crowd over to where his brother was now joined with Elena and the rest of the group.

"Hey kids." Damon said with an insincere smile on his face. "This is…" And then he realized he didn't remember her name.

"Oh, hi…I'm Shelby." She chimed in.

Well, the Damon they all knew was back after a year hiatus, and oddly enough…it felt as if he never left.

"Go get me a whiskey…no ice." He said to Shelby, and like an obedient puppy, she scurried off.

Matt and Caroline went over to some other friends, leaving Bonnie, Elena and Stefan with Damon.

"So you haven't been seen with anyone in like a year…what's with the change of heart?" Stefan asked his brother.

"Just because you haven't seen me with anyone doesn't mean anything. If you haven't noticed, this town talks a lot. Besides…I was hungry, and she was walking alone."

Stefan sighed and shook his head at his brother's response. This is a side of his brother that he has definitely not missed.

* * *

I stayed in the kitchen talking to Jenna about the cemetery I was at earlier. For some reason I was fascinated by it and couldn't wait to go back and spend some time there. She was telling me all about the founding families that were buried there and some of the local legends. It was all very interesting.

"Hey Jenna!" A little blonde woman said as she walked up and gave Jenna a hug.

"Hey Shelby, how's it going?"

"Everything's good, I actually came with Damon…he wanted me to get him a whiskey. Where would I find that?" She asked

Jenna shook her head at the thought of another woman falling prey to Damon Salvatore…"Of course he did, go ask Ric where it is…Damon drinks a specific brand, he'll know which one." Jenna replied and Shelby went off to find Ric.

"Have you had the pleasure of meeting Damon Salvatore yet?" Jenna asked

"Stefan's brother right? No I haven't met him, heard about him though…and I've seen his car."

"Ah the Ferrari, it's kind of hard to miss."

"I know this is probably an inappropriate question, but what does he do for a living?" I had to laugh at myself for asking that. "I'm not trying to golddig…I'm just curious."

Jenna laughed also…"It's mostly old family money."

I spent the next hour or so talking with random people about random things. I was having a lot more fun at this party than I anticipated…

* * *

"Come on, let's go upstairs." Damon said to his date, and grabbed her hand…not waiting for a response, not that he needed one.

She obliged as he made his way through the crowd towards the stairs, where it was quieter. Once upstairs he took her into the spare bedroom for a private party of his own. Drinking her blood before the party helped his mood a little bit…but there was still something else he needed…

* * *

I wouldn't say I was drunk, but I was definitely impaired, and realized it was probably a good idea to lay off on the booze for the rest of the night. I don't think it would be a good look for the new teacher in town to go all Girls Gone Wild…

I moved my way through the crowd to the first floor bathroom…and it was locked. So I stood outside the door and waited…

"Hey Jeanne…if you want you can use the bathroom upstairs. It should be free." Elena offered, I guess she was able to see the impatience on my face. "Up the stairs and second door on your left." She directed me as I headed towards the stairs.

As I walked up the stairs, that Shelby girl with the scarf was walking down, fixing her dress. I guess she just got out of the bathroom, so it should be free, thank God…

* * *

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Damon said aloud to himself as he braced his hands on the windowsill and stared out the window.

He didn't go through with it. He tried…he had her undressed and everything, but he had no desire whatsoever to have sex with her. And that made his bad mood even worse.

He didn't even want Shelby around him, God her voice was annoying. Especially that laugh, he had to send her back downstairs before he killed her…which judging by his mood was a likely possibility.

He has to go to Jeanne tonight. As much as he knows how dangerous it is for both of them, it might be a lot more dangerous for everyone else if he doesn't. He has to see her…

* * *

Once I got to the top of the stairs I couldn't remember if Elena said 2nd door on the right, or left? Or was it 3rd door…Shit.

I tried the first door on the left and it was a linen closet…

I tried the second door on the right and it was a bedroom…

I tried the third door on the right and it was another bedroom, and was startled by the figure of a man whose back was to me…

"Oh, I'm so sorry…I thought this was the bathroom." I said to him and turned to leave the room but for whatever reason, I was compelled to look back at him and when I did my body turned to ice.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**

**I hope you're all liking it so far. Please, Please, Please comment..it's the only way I'll know if you like the direction it's taking...Enjoy!**

* * *

Had Damon been human, she would have definitely hit her head on the hard floor…but he's not human, and he caught her just in time.

He looked down at her unconscious body in his arms and literally could not believe what he was looking at. How is this possible? How can she be here…in Mystic Falls…in Elena's house…in his arms…

He lifted her gently and laid her on the bed in the guest room, then started to pace frantically.

So this is the Jeanne from New York that everyone's been talking about…it's all starting to make a lot of sense.

He has two choices…

He can wait until she wakes up and explain it all to her. But what is he going to say? We met in New Orleans, but I'm a vampire so I was able to erase your memory, and then I decided to come have sex with you almost every night for a year and make you think it was a dream because I felt like it…

Even if she did believe it, which she wouldn't, it sounds pretty fucked up when you say it out loud.

Or, does he compel her when she wakes up into not remembering this little encounter? He did it in New Orleans…he can do it again. But a very, very strong part of him wants her to remember him. Isn't this what he's been wanting and wishing for pretty much since the moment he saw her? And besides…if she's going to be in Mystic Falls permanently, he's not going to be able to avoid her for very long…

But the reasons as to why he compelled her then are the same reasons he would do so tonight. She is too good for him, she doesn't deserve to be put through the hell that he would undoubtedly put her through.

* * *

When I woke up, I was in a room I didn't recognize, and had no idea how I got there.

I sat up in the bed and though the room was dark, I could see a silhouette against the window. Not sure what was going on, where I was and who was in the room with me, I leaped out of the bed in a panic.

He walked across the room and turned on the light. My eyes took a second to adjust, but when they did I just stared at him in an amazement that words just can't describe.

At least a whole minute went by in complete silence as we both stared at each other from opposite sides of the room. I was actually terrified of him, of the situation…which is something I have never felt around him.

"Am I dreaming?" I finally blurted out.

"No."

"So, this is real?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why I'm freaking out?"

He nodded his head.

"But you're not real…"

"Actually I'm very real." He said and outstretched his hand for me to touch, but instead I stepped back when he stepped forward.

"But they're dreams…"

"Uh kind of, but not really…it's complicated."

"I think I'm having a panic attack." I said and sat down on the bed as I felt my knees start to get weak again.

When he came towards the bed to sit near me, I jumped up and went to the other side of the room.

"I'm not going to hurt you, you should know that by now…" He said, hurt that I was so scared of him

"This is impossible, there's no way this is happening…I am losing my fucking mind."

* * *

As much as he didn't want to do it…Damon realized what he had to do. He had to compel her. There was no way she was going to believe him about any of this…he had to make her forget.

He stood up from the bed and crossed the room until she was standing in front of him. She was visibly shaking, almost paralyzed by her fear and confusion.

He put his hands on her shoulders, stared deep into her eyes and began to speak…

"You are going to go back to the party. You are going to forget ever seeing me. When I introduce myself to you, you are going to act as if you have never seen me in your life. You are…"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" She interrupted him.

Now he was the one freaking out…wait, why didn't it work?

She removed herself from his grip, now even more disturbed by the whole thing.

Damon was dumbfounded. In his 160 years of being a vampire, he never once had a problem compelling someone. As a matter of fact, he was pretty damn good at it…so why isn't it working on her?

"Ok, look…I, I think this is a misunderstanding. I thought you were someone else, but…you're not, you just look like him, right? Yeah, this is impossible. Ok…I have to go, it was nice meeting you…whatever your name is…but I have to go now, so I'm going to go…" Jeanne rambled as she backed out of the room.

* * *

Once I was in the hallway, I practically flew down the stairs. I had to get out of this house. Maybe it's the alcohol? I didn't think I drank that much…but clearly something is fucking with my mind….I just have to go.

I found Tyra, gave some bullshit excuse that I wasn't feeling too good, and hurried out of the house.

Once I turned the corner and was out of sight from the crowd, I just lost it.

I sat down on the curb and actually started to cry. I can't really tell you exactly why I was crying…I think it was because I was just so confused.

I mean, I know what I saw. I would know that face in a sea of a million people. I didn't make the whole thing up…but at the same time, how is it possible? It's not…

The conflicting arguments going on in my head completely broke me down and I just cried on the side of the road…

* * *

When Damon re-entered the party he scanned the room to see if she was still there, not noticing Jenna standing next to him.

"Woah…why do you look paler than usual?" Jenna asked.

"That girl Jeanne, Tyra's cousin…is she still here?"

"Oh no, no no no, Damon she's a sweet girl…you leave her alone."

Damon walked away not even hearing a word Jenna was saying.

"Just the one I needed to talk to." Damon said as he pulled Bonnie away to the outside of the house.

"Get off of me, what do you want?" She said, yanking her arm out of his grip.

"What are the reasons for why a vampire wouldn't be able to compel a human?"

"Uh, vervain? Bonnie answered, in a 'are you a moron?" type of way.

"Other than vervain, if the human has no vervain in their system whatsoever…what could cause them to not be compelled?"

"I don't really know…are you sure it's a human? You can never be too sure around here…"

"Yes Bonnie, I'm sure she's human…" He answered as his panic began to manifest into anger.

"She? Who is she?"

Not even bothering to acknowledge the question, Damon walked back into the house.

Damon made his way through the crowd over to Ric.

"Do you have any of Isobel's research here, or is it at the school?" Damon asked, slowly but surely losing his patience.

"I have most of it here, why?"

"I need it."

"Ok, but why?" Ric said as he and Damon walked towards Jenna's office where a lot of Ric's stuff was starting to take over.

"Do you remember reading anything in her research about compulsion?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, a few things…like what specifically?"

"Reasons why a human would be immune to it."

"Vervain…" Ric said in the same tone as Bonnie.

"Is there a reason everything thinks I'm a fucking moron? I know vervain…are there any other reasons?"

Ric started to thumb through the books…"Yeah, there was something in one of these books about compulsion…here it is." He pointed to the passage and handed it to Damon.

Damon read it silently…dumbfounded. He stared at the page for a minute, shook his head then handed the book back to Ric and left the room without saying a word.

Ric looked down at the handwritten notes and read what had Damon just had…

**_Almost all humans are susceptible to a vampire's mind compulsion. There are very few who hold immunity. If a human has vervain in their possession or in their bloodstream, the human will not be compelled. If the human is the vampires destined partner, that vampire will be unable to compel the human, however other vampires will be able to. This is not to be confused with love. Just because a vampire is in love with a human, does not mean that human is their destined partner. It is very, very rare that a vampire is destined to be with a human, but should that be the case…the human will be immune to that vampires mind control._**

By the time Ric made his way back out to the crowd, Damon was no where to be found.

Instead, Ric spotted Stefan.

"Something is going on with your brother." Ric said as Stefan poured himself a drink.

"Like what?"

"Well, he just came to me in a bit of a panic asking why a human would be immune to compulsion."

"Why would he be asking that?"

"Surprisingly your brother didn't go into detail about his personal life." Ric said sarcastically. "I found in Isobel's research a passage that mentioned how a vampire can't compel their destined soulmate, or something like that..."

Stefan looked confused. "I never heard of that before..."

"I'm not saying it's true or not, I'm just saying it's in her research. And when Damon read it, he looked a little disturbed."

"I don't know what's more disturbing. The fact that there's a human running around with information Damon can't make them forget, or the fact that Damon might have a destined soulmate..." Stefan said, trying to make light of the situation, but knowing something was very wrong to have his brother in a panic.

* * *

After sitting on the curb like a hobo for about 20 minutes…I picked myself up and attempted to act normal.

It's been a hectic and stressful few weeks. I'm still taking pain killers to ease the pain in my shoulder from the accident, mixed with the few drinks I had…I'm just not in the right state of mind.

Tomorrow will be a new day and I can go back to being normal…I hope. Whatever happened tonight was all in my head…just like he is, all in my head.

See how the mind will do anything to make logic of the illogical…


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**

**Let me know you think by clicking that little review button! **

**Hope you're enjoying it! :-)**

**

* * *

**

Damon had been checking up on her all week. He convinced himself that it was just to see if she was ok…but the truth was he really wanted to see her. At least he was smart enough to do it from a distance.

She didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. Went out a couple of times, but other than that she really didn't leave the house. He assumed their encounter at the party had something to do with it…

She probably was going to go to the festival today though. So, he made sure to stay far away.

After reading Isobel's research, Damon struggled with what it meant. He didn't really understand it, but he knew who would. And the thought of going to her for help made him want to stake himself.

Since being released from the tomb, Katherine had been pretty much staying out of everyone's business. She was living in a town outside of Mystic Falls so she was far enough to stay out of the way, but close enough if she wanted to stir up trouble…

Katherine was soaking in the bath when she felt his presence.

"Get out, I have to talk to you." He demanded then walked out into her bedroom to wait for her.

"You can join me if you want…"

"I would rather take this ring off and work on my tan. Get in here."

"God why are you always so cranky." She said, finally obliging as she wrapped her bathrobe around herself and leaned against her bedpost. "What do you want?"

"I was looking through Isobel's research and she mentions something about a human being immune to compulsion if they're a destined partner or something…what does that mean?"

"Why?"

"Just answer the question…"

"I can't just answer the question…It's complicated."

"So uncomplicate it. I'm really in no mod for your bullshit Katherine."

"Oh how I miss the days when my bullshit was all you were in the mood for." She sighed nostalgically.

He stared at her with pure venom in his eyes.

"Ok fine…there are only two ways that a human may be immune to a vampires mind control. The first is obviously vervain, if that's not the case…then the other way is extremely, extremely rare. Basically everyone on earth is linked to someone else, humans to humans, weres to weres, vampires to vampires, you get what I'm saying. There have been maybe one or two cases in history where the links have crossed over. This isn't to be confused with a mate or a lover. Most people never end up with their links, most people never even meet their links. It's basically just destiny's way of saying this is who you are supposed to be with…even though it almost never works out that way. In the rare rare rare occurrence that a vampire is linked to a human and even more rare, they actually end up together….that human is automatically immune from that vampire's mind control, but like I said, that's nearly impossible. So…whatever the reason is for asking me about this, you should probably double check that she didn't have vervain on her…"

"I know for a fact she did not have vervain."

"Ooo so it is a 'she'. Who is she?" Katherine asked with a twinkle in her eye. She loves it when there are new people tangled get up in the Mystic Falls vampire web…it brings excitement to her life.

Damon ignored her question. "But I was able to compel her once before, a year ago. Why would it work then and not now?"

Katherine laughed, knowing how absurd it is to think that Damon was linked to a human.

"Damon, listen to me…it must have been vervain. She must have had it somewhere on her that you didn't think to check. You don't seem to be comprehending how unlikely it is for this human to be linked to you…"

Damon was beginning to get seriously pissed off. "Ok, for arguments sake, let's just play along and assume that it wasn't vervain. Let's just pretend that I am linked to her…why would I be able to compel her then and not now?" He asked trying his damn hardest not to lose his patience.

Katherine shrugged her shoulders. "Well, if she were in an extreme emotional state the first time, that could be why. If she was overly vulnerable, her psyche was weak and unguarded, so you would have been able to compel her. Other than that, there's really no way."

Damon didn't know if he believed what she was saying. On the one hand, it actually did kind of make sense. But on the other, it made no fucking sense whatsoever.

What are the chances?

Meeting her in New Orleans during Mardi Gras was just a coincidence, wasn't it?

And visiting her at night, well…it started out because she was hot and he was horny. But it did turn into something more than that…

"I gotta go." He went to walk out of the room…but Katherine stopped him.

"You know, there is something else."

"Something more unbelievable than what you just told me?" Damon said with a sarcastic, amused smirk…"Please, do tell."

"When the person you are linked to dies, so do you. It's the same for everyone, humans, vamps and everything in between. If she dies tomorrow in a car accident, you'll die tomorrow, if she dies in 60 years from old age…you'll die in 60 years."

Damon wasn't expecting that.

* * *

A week had passed since the party. Oddly enough it was also a week without a single dream…

I kept myself busy by rearranging furniture multiple times and writing up lesson plans for the upcoming school year.

I had pretty much convinced myself that whatever happened at the party was some kind of giant misunderstanding.

I didn't really go out much that week…only twice. Once to return the U-Haul, and a second time to the used car dealership to buy a car.

Other than that, I pretty much stayed holed up in my house.

Until Saturday.

Saturday was the big End of Summer Festival that I had been hearing so much about all week. All over town were signs and banners. Everywhere you went someone was talking about it. Clearly this was a big deal for the people of Mystic Falls.

As much as I didn't want to go, I kind of felt like I had to. Being new to the town, of course I wanted to make a good impression and blowing off one of the biggest events of the year would not look good for me.

So, I got myself together and I went. It was a perfect day outside…sun was shining, wasn't too hot. Good day for a festival…

Once I arrived, I recognized a lot of people from the party, and a lot of them recognized me…especially how I looked when I left.

At least 4 people asked me if I was ok because I looked like I had just seen a ghost when I rushed out of the house. Well, I did…

After the initial feeling of not wanting to be there, I actually started to have fun. I ran into the kids a bunch of times, who were pretty much organizing the whole thing, and did a great job. There were carnival games and rides, cotton candy and jelly apples…Tyra forced me onto the Ferris Wheel which I absolutely despise and pretty much kept my eyes closed the entire time. It was turning out to be a really fun day.

* * *

"It's been such a busy week, I haven't really spoken to you since Ric's party…someone's been asking around about your baby cousin…" Jenna said to Tyra as she motioned over to Damon who was about 50 feet away.

Tyra looked at him then back at Jenna. "Over my dead body. Jeanne was dragged through hell with her last boyfriend, there is no way I'll let her get mixed up with that womanizing prick."

"Well, at the party he had asked me where she went, I guess it was after she left. And then the other day I overheard him asking Elena about her. So…just giving you a heads up."

Tyra looked around…"Where is Jeanne anyway?"

* * *

"So, your brother was asking me about Tyra's cousin the other day." Elena said as she and Stephan took tickets for the Tilt-A-Whirl.

"What about her?"

"He asked if she was dating anyone, who she moved here with…You know, I was thinking…"

But Stefan cut her off. "Absolutely not. I know what you are going to say and we are not fixing them up."

"Why not? I think it'll be good for him. She seems like a tough chick, she's from New York…she won't put up with his bullshit. Maybe that's what he needs…"

"Or...maybe he'll treat her like he does all women and then she'll hate us for being responsible."

"Oh, well don't be mad at me…but I invited her over to your house tonight. I told her we needed help with our college admissions essay and she's coming over at 8."

Stefan sighed. "Why do you make my life so complicated?"

* * *

I left the carnival at about 6:30. Elena had asked me to help her and Stefan with their college admissions essays and I still had to find the box that had all of my teaching materials in it. I had some great essay writing books that would really help them out.

Luckily they were going to be at Stefan's house and not Elena's, so I didn't even need to take my car, it was just a 5 minute walk around the block.

The house was even more impressive up close than it was from the street.

Elena opened the door and the second I walked in the house it literally felt like it was 30 degrees colder than it was outside. I mean I know it's August, but Jesus…lower the AC.

She lead me into the sitting room which was adorned with old gothic style furniture and designs. It didn't look like a house that 2 young guys lived in, that's for sure.

We started talking about the festival and what a great job she did putting it together when Stefan walked in the room.

He came over and greeted me, then joined the conversation.

"Oh, Stefan…is Damon home?" Elena asked, knowing he was…it was a part of her little plan.

Stefan didn't want to go along with it…but he did anyway. "Uh, yeah, he's upstairs."

"Have you and Damon been introduced?" Elena asked.

"No, I've heard a lot about him though." I said with a laugh…Damon, the infamous Ferrari driving womanizer of Mystic Falls.

"Stefan, why don't you go tell Damon to come down and meet Jeanne."

"Ok" Stefan said reluctantly and left the room to get his brother.

* * *

"Come downstairs for a second. Elena wants to introduce you to someone." Stefan said to his brother, not trying to be too convincing.

"Who?" Damon asked, not trying to sound too interested.

"Just come downstairs…and try not to be a dick." Stefan said, then left the room not waiting for his brother to follow.

* * *

"He'll be down in just a second." Stefan said and sat on the couch across from Elena.

We chatted some more, mostly just small talk….and that's when Damon entered the room.

My reaction to seeing him wasn't like it was the last time…maybe because this time I couldn't deny that it was really happening.

Once Elena realized Damon was behind her, she popped up.

"Oh, Damon…this is Tyra's cousin, Jeanne. Jeanna, this is Damon, Stefan's brother." She said excitedly.

Damon crossed the room and came towards me and extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you." He said while taking my hand in his.

If I wasn't already sure that this was really happening, the second he touched my hand there was no denying it. I recognized that touch, how cold it was…

"It's nice to meet you too…" I said softly staring up at him.

"Oh, I have cookies in the oven. Stefan, come help me in the kitchen for a sec." Elena said, in her best…'let's leave them alone' tone.

Stefan and Elena left the room and Damon took a seat across from me.

"We have a lot to talk about." He said slowly and calmly.

"Yeah, I would say so…"

"Not here though…I'll explain everything to you later. Can I come see you tonight?" He asked, which isn't custom for him.

"Why do I have a feeling that whatever it is your going to tell me, I'm not going to believe a word of it…"

Damon laughed…"And I don't expect you to…"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**

**Sorry it took so long to get Chapter 8 up, it's a little hard to write during the week. **

**Please comment and let me know what you think! Comments really help to get the ideas flowing and the chapters posted quicker ;-)**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

I spent the next hour struggling to make sense as I helped Elena and Stefan with their admissions essays. Damon popped in and out. He would come in, listen for a minute or two and stare at me uncomfortably…then leave, and come back 10 minutes later…which needless to say was a bit of a distraction.

"So…basically the key is to pick a topic that you have a lot of knowledge in, and to sound very convincing." I said to Elena and Stefan about their essays, even though sounding convincing was something I was personally struggling with at the moment.

It was around 10pm when we finally wrapped things up. As I was saying my goodbyes to Stefan and Elena, Damon came back in the room.

"Oh, Damon…why don't you drive Jeanne home, it's late for her to walk alone." Elena said, very obvious at what she was trying to do.

"Uh, no…that's ok, it's literally a block away. I'll be fine" I said, trying not to sound as awkward as I felt.

"She's right…it's not safe out there. You might run into a possum or something…" Damon said and pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Let's go"

My heart was pounding like a snare drum…Do I trust him? Do I want to be alone with him? A week ago the answer would have been a giant yes to both of those questions, but then again a week ago he wasn't a real person…now just being around him is sending me into a panic.

I followed him out of the house and to the car. He opened the door for me and I hesitated…contemplated making a run for it, but instead I took a deep breath and got in.

He got in but didn't start the car immediately.

"I can tell how nervous you are. You don't have to be like that around me…"

"The fact that I didn't faint this time is a step in the right direction. Not being nervous around you may take a little more time."

He started the car and drove off.

The ride to my house was literally all of 3 minutes long, and it was painfully silent.

When he got to my house he pulled into the driveway, got out and came around to open my door.

I got out of the car and he followed me to the front door.

"I feel like I should have mace if I'm going to let you in my house." I said with a smile, but I was only half joking…

I opened the door and expected him to follow, but he didn't. He just stood on the porch as if he were waiting for something.

"Um, are you going to come in?" I asked, a little confused.

"Only if you ask me formally" He said with that flirtatious grin I've come to know so well.

"Damon Salvatore, won't you please come into my home." I said in an over exaggerated fashion.

Damon smiled and walked into my house, which was fully furnished and moved into by now. As he looked around, I went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of whiskey, then went into the living where he was.

We sat next to each other on the couch and sipped our drinks.

It was hard to ignore the fact that we were both trying to avoid the obvious. I had a million and one questions and he had a million and one answers. Now it was just a matter of actually discussing it which neither one of us seemed to want to initiate.

Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore…

"What the fuck is going on" I know, not subtle…but I think I'm entitled to be a little straight forward.

Damon laughed at my bluntness.

"Depends where you want me to start."

"For a year, I've been having extremely…vivid…dreams about you, who as far as I was concerned, wasn't real. Then all of a sudden, you are real…and you know exactly what dreams I'm talking about. Which means there's some type of freaky, psychic, crazy person shit going on, and I don't like it one bit. So, you can start by trying to make sense of any part of what I just said" I said, then took a large gulp of my whiskey, regretting it a second later.

"Do you believe in the supernatural?" He asked, very non-chalantly.

"No."

"You seem pretty sure of your answer."

"I am sure of my answer. I only believe in things that I can touch and see, other than that…as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't exist."

Damon shook his head and looked at me intently, as if he were thinking about how to proceed. All I kept thinking was how a man with eyes that blue could not be trusted.

"You and I met a long time ago." He finally continued…

Ok, I'll play along…

"Oh, did we?" I said kind of sarcastically, kind of curious as to where he was going with this.

Damon smiled, realizing what I was doing..

"Yes, we did. In New Orleans, Mardi Gras to be exact."

Ok, that threw me off a bit. But come on, millions and millions of people go to Mardi Gras. Lucky guess…

"Ok, and what did we do in New Orleans?" I asked, convinced that this conversation was going no where.

"We had sex." He said bluntly.

I had to laugh this time, I couldn't resist.

"Oh, we had sex? Well, Damon I hate to call your bullshit, when it comes to the real world…I've only had sex with one person, and you aren't him."

"You mean one other person, Jake, right?"

This time my breath caught in my throat. I mean, Jake is a popular name…but that was a little too lucky of a guess for my liking. Not to mention, unless you know me very well, you don't know about Jake. My relationship with him is not something I make a point to talk about.

"How did you know about Jake?" I asked, not even sure if I would believe the answer he gave me.

"You told me about him, about your relationship with him…about what he did to you." Damon said delicately, as if he knew how sensitive it was for me to talk about.

Now I was the one who needed to a minute to think about how to proceed…

After an uncomfortable silence, Damon continued.

"I know you think I'm making all of this up because you don't remember it, but it did happen."

"Ok, let's pretend I believe you. Why don't I remember meeting you? And what about the dreams…"

"Ok, that's where it all gets a little more complicated."

"I can handle complicated." I said sarcastically.

The fact is, I despise being confused. The feeling of not quite knowing what the hell is going on is extremely unsettling for me, and that's what is happening right now.

"I'm going to show you something, and you're going to want to freak out and scream and probably look for something to throw at me, but just try not to, ok?" He said, and then he was gone.

He was sitting in front of me, talking and in literally the blink of an eye, a cold wind assaulted me and he was no longer there.

I stared at the spot he was sitting in seconds earlier in disbelief.

"Ok, you handled that better than I expected you to." His voice said from behind me. My body jerked to face him.

"What the fuck!" I said and jumped up from the couch.

"You said if you can see it and touch it, right? Well you've definitely touched it before, and you just saw it…so do you believe in it now?" He asked and slowly came towards me.

The weird thing is as freaked out and hysterical I was, I wasn't scared of him….just completely clueless as to what he was…

I was backed up against the wall and he was just inches in front of me. The most dysfunctional part is that with all that was going on and all that still remained unanswered, all I wanted to do was rip his clothes off.

He bent his head and gently kissed me on the lips. I felt as though my body was going to burst into flames at his touch.

Luckily I came back to my senses after a few seconds and stopped him.

"I'm going to try and be as open minded as possible. Tell me everything…"

And from that point, Damon and I sat on my couch until the sun came up, some 6 hours or so…and what we talked about is a conversation I never expected to have in my life.

He started with New Orleans.

As it so happened, the 2 friends that I went to New Orleans with had quickly paired up with a couple of Navy SEALs they met at the bar. Since it was only a little over a month since my accident, and my break up with Jake, I guess I wasn't exactly in the flirty friendly mood and I sat at the bar alone while they danced with their new friends on the dance floor. Damon was alone also. We started talking, the drunker I got, the more I opened up about everything that had just happened.

As he told me the story of our first encounter, he was spot on with every detail about the accident. I knew it had to come from my mouth; there was no way he was making this up. Anyway, flash forward to the end of the night and about 7 shots of tequila later, I brought Damon back to my hotel room where we had mind-blowing sex.

Apparently when I woke up the next morning with a strangers arm around my naked body, I had a bit of a panic attack. Call me a prude all you want, but I'm not the one night stand type of girl…

So why don't I remember any of this?

Because according to Damon, he erased the memory…

So the next question is the dreams…

Well, in Damon's own words, he's a bit of a 'mind traveler'.

What's a mind traveler you ask? Luckily so did I…

"Well, after New Orleans, I couldn't stop thinking about you, which anyone who knows me can tell you that it's not like me to think twice about a woman…

"I knew that I had already erased your memory, so it wasn't like I could just show up in New York and we could pick up where we left off…besides, I didn't really know much about you except your name and what you told me about the accident. So I decided to manipulate your dreams."

Damon stood up and started to pace in front of me as he continued to explain himself…

"I knew it was wrong, but to be honest, in the beginning I didn't really give a shit. It was so easy because you lived so far away. We were never supposed to actually see each other again. It worked out perfectly for a while. It was just about the sex, no talking, no emotions, just really…really good sex. But then something changed and I wanted to know more about you. Before I found out you moved here, I actually told myself I wasn't going to come see you anymore. I was becoming too attached to you. And now, you're here…"

I hadn't spoken in at least a half hour. Not that Damon had given me much of a chance to, but it didn't matter because I didn't really have a response to anything he was saying other than, can I have some of the LSD you're currently tripping on…

The weird thing is, despite being a self proclaimed skeptic…there was a part of me that actually buying all of it.

I sat there listening to him the entire time, taking it all in.

-Erasing my memory…

-Mind traveling…

-Manipulating my dreams…

-The abnormal speed at which he moved…

When Damon finally stopped talking I only had one question to ask him…

"What are you?" I asked, knowing that the next words out of Damon's mouth were going to completely change everything I thought I knew about life…

As the sun began to light up the night's sky, Damon took a deep breath and looked at me with those eyes.

"I'm a vampire…"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**

**This is a short chapter, but it's a build up to what's coming. Hope you like it...and _PLEASE REVIEW!_ :-)**

I had to struggle not to burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Ahhh, I get it. What am I being hazed as the new girl in town? Trying to see just how much bullshit you can actually get me to believe?" I said, followed by a powerful yawn.

It was just then that I realized how long we had been sitting on my couch talking and that it was no longer nighttime.

"I think you should probably get going, my brain has officially clocked out."

"You don't believe me?" He said, seemingly surprised…

"You said yourself you didn't expect me to believe you. I will be honest, you did have me going for a while. I'm not usually one to buy into weird unexplainable psychobabble, but you were very convincing. Obviously there is a much more logical explanation for all of this…but I don't quite have the brain power to figure out what it is right now."

"Ok…well, when you do figure it all out, let me know what you come up with." Damon said with a smile, gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, then left.

"Vampires…what a crock of shit."

* * *

As he did most mornings, Stefan was just heading out for his morning run. He never paid attention to what time Damon had come in last night, but the car wasn't in the driveway like it usually was this early in the morning…

Stefan allowed his thoughts to wander as he turned the block at a slow jog, but was brought to a sudden stop in front of Jeanne's house as his brother was walking to his car that was parked in her driveway.

"You've got to be kidding me" Stefan said, not at all happy at what he was seeing. He knows better than anyone how these things always turn out.

"It's not what you think." Damon said, continuing to his car with no intention of stopping to chat.

Stefan blocked him…"You drove her home at 10 o'clock last night, it's now 7 in the morning and you're just leaving…there's not really many things to think other than what I'm thinking. You know, I had more respect for her than that. She didn't seem like the type who would give it up to you so easily…"

Before Stefan was even able to finish his sentence, Damon had his hand around his throat…"One, do not speak about her like that. And two, it is not what you think."

Stefan knew his brother well enough not to press the issue. He also knew that there was definitely something more to this story than Damon was willing to share.

Stefan backed away and Damon got in his car and drove off.

Stefan knew he should stay out of it, and generally speaking he would. Just like he told Elena, if they're not involved…that's a good thing. But there was something just not right about this whole situation, something that was giving him an uneasy feeling.

He should just leave it alone…but he wasn't going to.

* * *

By 2 o'clock that afternoon, pretty much everyone in the greater Mystic Falls area knew that Damon was at Jeanne's house the night before.

All it took was Matt driving Caroline home and innocently driving down Jeanne's block. Caroline spotted the car and within a 12 hour time frame, Damon and Jeanne were a Mystic Falls hot topic, unbeknownst to Damon and Jeanne that is.

* * *

I awoke sometime around 4pm. After my normal morning routine, I noticed the 4 missed calls and 6 text messages on my phone from Tyra. Assuming something was horribly wrong, I didn't even bother to read them before calling Tyra in a panic.

"Jesus, it's about time you call me back!" Tyra said on the other line.

"What's wrong? Why did you call so many times, is everyone ok? Did someone die?"

"Die? What? No you lunatic…why was Damon at your house last night?"

"What?" I responded in a confused/relieved tone.

"I know Damon was with you last night, and I want to know why. He's a bad guy Jeanne, he treats women like doormats. He will use you for sex and he's just not the type of guy you want to get involved with. Especially considering your history with men…"

I knew Tyra was coming from a concerned and caring place, but as much as I hated to admit it, there was a part of me that wanted to defend Damon. Not that I knew what I was defending because despite our hours and hours long chat last night, I still didn't feel like I knew a damn thing about him.

"Nothing happened between Damon and I. I was at his house last night helping Elena and Stefan with their admissions essays, Damon offered to drive me home, so I asked him if he wanted to come in for a drink, that's all there is to it. But just out of curiosity, why does he have such a bad reputation?"

"Well I'll put it this way, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of women in this town who have turned to hard liquor to try to forget what he's done to them…"

"Well then I guess there are a lot of stupid women in this town, luckily I'm not one of them."

Tyra and I spoke for a few more minutes, it was mostly her trying not to sound like she was lecturing me, even though that was exactly what she was doing. But my mind was elsewhere…it was stuck on him in the worst way.

* * *

Katherine couldn't deny that she was slightly curious about Damon's little predicament. She knew there was no way it could be true…a vampire being linked to a human was just folklore that had been talked about for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It's one of those things that everyone says is 'possible', but actually know that it's not.

But Damon isn't one to get worked up about things…and he was definitely worked up about this…

If there really is truth to this…if there is a human female out there whose life is linked to Damon's, and Katherine knew who she was and how to find her…she would have the ultimate protection where Damon Salvatore is concerned. All Katherine would have to do is tell any one of Damon's countless enemies who the girl was and the rest would be history….

There were two ways to find out if Damon and his mystery woman were really linked.

The first way would be to find out who she is and kill her, if Damon dies too then she has her answer…but that would kind of defeat the purpose.

The second way would require a Ms. Bonnie Bennett and her book of magic…here's to hoping she doesn't put up much of a fight…


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**

**Please Please Please review and let me know what you think! It makes it a lot easier to be creative when I have feedback!**

**Enjoy :-)**

* * *

Purposely trying to keep your mind off of something (or someone) is just about as likely as keeping your eyes open when you sneeze (try it and you'll see what I mean).

Jeanne and Damon hadn't spoken or seen each other since the night (morning) he left her house, 5 days ago.

Once praised for how quickly and creatively she produced a lesson plan, she was now barely capable of forming a complete sentence as her mind was preoccupied repeating all of the things Damon told her that night.

The first day of school was less than two weeks away and her lack of preparation had reached new lows. Damon was all she could think about. Jeanne Cardella, who had read _Catcher in the Rye _more times than any normal person should, was now struggling to even remember what the main character's name was because the only name she could form logical thoughts about was Damon Salvatore…

A vampire.

Erasing my memory.

How idiotic.

But he moved so quickly. Abnormally quickly. I may be able to make sense of a lot, but there is no making sense of that speed. No human being is able to move like that.

Jeanne finally put the pen down and let out a long sigh. She knew she wasn't going to get anything useful done until all of this was somehow sorted out with an explanation she felt comfortable with and 'I'm a vampire' was far from a comfortable explanation.

She knew she couldn't ask Tyra about him. Tyra would just freak out at the sound his name coming out of her mouth.

There was Jenna…who seemed to know a lot about Mystic Falls and the people in it. But Jenna seems to be on the same wave length as Tyra where Damon is concerned.

Elena.

Elena was all too eager to introduce the two of them. If Jeanne gives Elena the impression that she's asking about Damon because she's interested in dating him, then maybe she can swindle some information out of her.

But how exactly does one approach this situation?

'Excuse me, but is your boyfriend's brother, by any chance, a vampire?' No, it would have to be a bit more discreet than that…

* * *

"I just don't understand what happened. The night he drove her home, they spent the entire night together, and then nothing? No dinner, no movie…nothing?" Elena complained to Stefan about the lack of 'sparks' between Jeanne and Damon.

"I told you this is exactly what would happen, what do you think they did all night long? Talked? No they didn't talk, they had sex and now he wants nothing to do with her. And I'm sure it's no coincidence she hasn't been seen around town since then, she's probably trying to hide out from embarrassment." Stefan responded, not entirely sure he believed what he was saying, but it did make sense.

"How I just love waking up to the sound of people complaining about me." Damon muttered as he entered the room.

"I've been trying to mind my business, but it's been almost a week and to be honest Damon, I really thought you would be different with her. But no, you treated her just like the rest, way to go dipshit." Elena scowled at him.

Damon had to smile at the irony. God they were just so wrong about him, well this time at least.

"Despite what you think happened that night, I didn't sleep with her. I didn't even try. We just talked."

"You were at her house for like 8 hours and you're saying that all you did was talk? You two have been brothers for over 150 years and I'm pretty sure if you combine every conversation the two of you have had in those 150 years, it wouldn't total 8 hours." Elena shot back.

"Well, that should tell you something about your boyfriend's conversation skills."

"So then what's the problem? Why haven't you tried to see her since then?"

"It's complicated" Damon replied, not intending to elaborate.

Unsatisfied with Damon's answer, Elena shot him a dirty look. "I gotta go, I'll see you later." She kissed Stefan and left the brothers alone.

"There's something about this whole thing that you're not telling me. Which is fine, you can have your secrets, but I know there's more to it. The night of Ric's party, he told me that you mentioned something about not being able to compel someone, and something about a soulmate? I never mentioned it because I figured if there was a problem, you would come to me. "

Damon wanted to tell his brother. Well, not so much that he wanted to tell his brother, but he wanted to tell someone. Who had he spoken to about this whole thing? Katherine? That's like cutting off your arm and talking to it. He needed someone with insight, and who wasn't a corrupt selfish bitch…

Damon took a deep breath.

"Jeanne and I met over a year ago in New Orleans. We had sex and obviously we were never supposed to see each other again. The next morning she had like this panic attack because she had only slept with one other person and blah blah blah, so I compelled her and erased her memory. She went back to New York and that was that. But I couldn't stop thinking about her, so about a week later I started manipulating her dreams. Remember when you asked me where I was going every night? Well, I was going to her subconscious. The manipulations went on almost every single night since. When we ran into each other at Ric's party, she freaked out…obviously. So I tried to compel her to forget all of it, everything…but it didn't work. In 150 years, I have never had a compulsion not work. So I looked in Isobel's notes and there was something in there that I didn't really understand, so I went to Katherine who made it a little clearer. According to legend, and I'm not saying I believe it, but Katherine told me that the only reason I wouldn't have been able to compel her is if she and I are linked –" Which is where Stefan cut him off.

"Linked? As in if she dies you die?" He asked

"Well, according to Katherine that's how the whole linking thing works, soo…yeah."

"And that night you drove her home and stayed at her house all night…what exactly did the two of you talk about?" Stefan asked, scared of what Damon's answer was going to be.

"Well, we talked about this."

"Jesus Christ Damon" Stefan said and rested his head in his hands.

"I had no choice, she recognized me from the dreams." Damon said defensively. "I couldn't erase her memory, I had to tell her, but it doesn't matter…she doesn't believe it anyway." He continued.

"Ok, so what is your plan now? Do you even have a plan? Or were you just going to avoid her for as long as possible while she's out there thinking Damon Salvatore is a schizophrenic lunatic who believes he's a vampire?"

"Well, no Stefan…I don't have a plan." Damon responded becoming quickly irritated at his brother's criticism.

"Of course you don't" Stefan paused for a moment, then continued…"I'll compel her."

Which would make the most logical sense, but for whatever reason, Damon was not ok with it.

"I don't want her to compelled." Damon protested.

"You don't want her to be compelled? Or you don't want her to not know who you are?" Stefan asked, knowing his brother better than his brother knew himself sometimes.

"It doesn't matter what the reason is, I don't want her compelled. I'll handle this, just stay out of it." And with that Damon stormed out of the room, knowing he had to fix this, and fast.

* * *

Bonnie heard the doorbell and rushed down to see Elena standing on her porch.

"Hey, come in" Bonnie said pre-occupied with Caroline who she was trying to hang up from for the last 20 minutes.

Katherine entered the Bennett home and quietly sat on the couch waiting for Bonnie to come back into the room.

After hanging up the phone and focusing all of her attention on her guest, it only took seconds for Bonnie to realize it wasn't Elena sitting on her couch.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"You really should pay more attention when you invite people into your home Bonnie." Katherine teased.

"Katherine you do not want to play with me, I think I've proven more than enough times that I can be a vampire's worst nightmare…"

"Fair enough" Katherine agreed. "I'm not here to cause trouble for anyone, I just need help with something, and you're really the only one who can help me…"

"And after everything you've done, why should I help you?"

Katherine realized she didn't really have much of an answer for that.

"I'll stay away from Mystic Falls, permanently…" Katherine promised, though she knew she would never keep it.

Bonnie knew the same and laughed.

"You're going to have to do better than that."

Katherine paused. She knew she had something to offer, but should she? Was this really worth it? After a few minutes of contemplation, she decided it was. To have Damon at her mercy would be worth just about anything…

"Ok, fine…how about a _Celontes?_" Katherine coolly said, knowing the word alone would send Bonnie in a tailspin.

"A Celontes? " Bonnie had to laugh at that one. "Are you so desperate that you'll offer something you and I both know doesn't even exist?"

"And what makes you so sure it doesn't exist?"

"Because if it did, I would know."

"What if you didn't know? What if Emily had one, and told me exactly where she hid it so no one else could get to it?"

Bonnie didn't believe Katherine any more than she believed in the tooth fairy, but just the thought of getting her hands on a Celontes was enough to make her consider.

"Fine, but you give me the Celontes first…then I'll help you." Bonnie said confidently, knowing this was probably the last she'll be seeing of Katherine.

Katherine stood up with a confident smile. "Meet me at the cemetery at noon tomorrow." And with that she left.

'A Celontes' Bonnie thought. 'The most powerful stone a witch can have access to, with a Celontes she would have access to healing abilities that put hers to shame. She would literally be able to revive the dead…

Grams told Bonnie all about it, and always made it a point to mention that no one has had access to it in nearly 500 years. Of course Grams would know if Emily had it.

Bonnie realized that she probably should have asked what Katherine needed her help with before agreeing to it. But she didn't _really_ agree to anything. Katherine can not get to the Celontes anymore than Bonnie can…right?


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry it's been SOOOO long. My summer's are always super busy but I guess the show coming back on gave me some more motivation. Hope you guys are still with me!**_

* * *

After hours of attempting to do work and getting nowhere, Jeanne decided to throw in the towel and watch some TV.

She turned to one of the movie channels to see Edward Cullen floating through the air. No thank you, Twilight.

She flipped through the channels some more and stopped on Eric Northman sucking the life out of Sookie's neck. No thank you, True Blood.

She flipped some more and landed on Tom Cruise's flowing blonde hair in his portrayal of Lestat in Interview With a Vampire.

"Jesus Chris!" Jeanne screamed and turned the TV off, throwing the remote control across the room.

Jeanne realized that there was no way she was going to be productive while floating around in this bubble of confusion. She needed to find answers, ones that made logical, plausible sense.

Damon hadn't come to see her in 5 days and she hadn't seen him around town. Not that she was seen around town much either since she kept herself holed up in her house. After hours of playing tug of war between continuing to ignore the situation, and going out to find an explanation, ignoring the situation got thrown in the mud and Jeanne refused to be confused any more.

She looked through her cell phone for Jenna's number and decided she would start with her.

"Hello?" Jenna answered on the other line.

"Hey Jenna, it's Jeanne. I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch today? I would love to talk to you more about the town's history." Jeanne said.

"Yeah that would be great, meet me at The Grill in an hour?" Jenna said enthusiastically.

"Sounds good!" And with that Jeanne hung up the phone.

She went into her closet to figure out what to wear. You never know who you'll run into in this town. Looking good has become a necessity.

* * *

As Bonnie worked her way over to the cemetery, she couldn't stop thinking about how foolish this whole thing is. Just going along with it made her feel idiotic.

A Celontes.

She should have just thrown Katherine out of her house and forgotten about the whole thing. But she couldn't deny that tiny, miniscule part of her that wanted to believe it to be true. The things she would be capable of if she had a Celontes would put her powers to shame. It would make her look like a magician who gets paid to come to your kid's birthday party for an hour.

Bonnie stood in the cemetery, lost in her thoughts when Katherine showed up right beside her, causing Bonnie to gasp.

"You really should be more aware of your surroundings." Katherine said with that wicked smile she has become known all too well for.

"Let me see it." Bonnie said, in a 'cut the bullshit' sort of tone.

"Wow, no girl talk? Always straight to business with Bonnie Bennett." Katherine said, then pulled a black velvet satchel from her pocket.

Bonnie watched intently as Katherine delicately took it's contents out.

In Katherine's hand was a light pink stone, a little bigger than a gumball.

She held it up for Bonnie to see and after only a few moments, Bonnie was unconvinced.

"It looks like something you fished out of a cereal box." She said, disappointed with herself for even showing up, and turned to walk away.

"Try it." Katherine said, trying to reel her back.

"What do you mean 'try it'"Bonnie replied, turning back towards Katherine.

"NICHOLAS!" Katherine yelled, and seconds later a very tall, very handsome man appeared.

Bonnie was confused, but she tried not to let on too much.

"This here is Nicholas, he's under compulsion and will do whatever I say." Katherine explained.

"Well, when someone is as bitchy as you, compulsion is probably the only way to get people to hang around you." Bonnie said with a smile.

Bonnie wasn't sure exactly what happened next because it all happened so quickly, but within seconds, Nicholas was laying dead on the ground in between Katherine and Bonnie's feet.

The speed at which Katherine broke his neck was barely recognizable by the human eye. But after a few seconds of processing what she just saw, Bonnie stood there in horrid disbelief.

With a knowing smile on her face, Katherine reached over the dead body and handed the stone to Bonnie.

Bonnie dropped to her knees and felt for a pulse. Logically she knew there wouldn't be one, but she had to check.

"What's wrong with you! Why would you do that, you are insane!" Bonnie screamed at Katherine, literally over Nicholas's dead body.

"Use it Bonnie." Katherine urged.

Bonnie looked down at the stone in her hand. She knew how it was used, but there's no way…there is just no way.

At this point she didn't have a choice, it was her only option.

With one hand over Nicholas's heart, and the other clutching the pink stone, Bonnie closed her eyes and began to chant.

The wind started to blow, the sky getting darker, everything was silent except for the sound of Bonnie's voice coupled with the howls of the wind.

In less than 30 seconds, Nicholas's eyes opened wide and he took a deep breath. Simultaneously, the wind stopped and the sun shone bright again.

"What the hell am I doing on the floor?" He said, got up and brushed himself off.

"Ok, go away now." Katherine said, and Nicholas obeyed.

Bonnie stood there in disbelief.

"See, I told you." Katherine said with a smirk.

Bonnie's hands were shaking. She looked down at the stone that was fading back to it's dusky pink color from the black glow it turned just seconds ago.

"I can't believe this." Bonnie finally muttered, breathlessly.

"I held up my end of the bargain. Now you have to hold up yours." Katherine replied, quickly getting back to business.

The reality hit Bonnie like a ton of bricks. Katherine wouldn't offer up something this valuable if she wasn't getting something equally as valuable in return. And, judging by Katherine's reputation, Bonnie knew that whatever it was that Katherine wanted usually had a malicious motive behind it.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to locate someone for me"

"Who?"

"Whoever Damon has been spending his time with lately."

Bonnie's initial reaction was relief, since from what she remembers Damon hasn't been spending much time with anyone. And then realized. The teacher.

"Since when do you care who Damon is dating" Bonnie replied, thinking frantically of how to manage this situation.

"Ahh, so he is dating someone. See I never said anything about 'dating', I just wanted to know who he's spending his time with."

"And even if I knew who that someone was, why do you care?"

"Did I ask a whole bunch of questions when I handed over the Celontes? No. An interview was not part of the deal. Find out who she is and where I can find her. That's all I need from you. I'll give you two days. If I don't hear from you by then, the deal is off and the Celontes is back to being mine. You know, I've kept a low profile for a while now. Maybe I'll come back to Mystic Falls for a bit, I'm sure everyone has being dying to see me. Oh, and one more thing…do not tell Damon about this. I'll know if you do" Katherine said, and in the blink of an eye she was gone.

Bonnie stood there struggling to process what just happened. The stone was in her hand. It was hers. And there was no way Katherine was getting it back.

Bonnie had to find out why the teacher was so important to her. And she had to find a way to keep her alive, which tends to be a challenge when Katherine is involved.

* * *

Jeanne got to The Grill before Jenna and took a booth by the window so she can see who comes in and out. Like the last time Jeanne was here, there were a lot of people. Some eating lunch, some sitting at the bar, some playing pool or just hanging around. For a small town, it seemed like everyone who lived in it was at here.

A few minutes later Jenna showed up and joined Jeanne at the table.

After ordering some drinks, Jeanne started asking questions.

"So, the founding families. That seems to be a big thing around her." Jeanne asked, thinking that may be the best gateway to get into the Salvatores.

"Oh yea, we do a lot of 'Founding Family' type stuff here in town. A bunch of the families are still around, they're apart of the Founder's Council.

"That's really cool, so who are the founding families?"

"Well, the ones that are still around are The Lockwood's, The Gilberts, which is Elena and Jeremy's ancestors, The Forbes, oh and The Salvatores."

"Oh, The Salvatores also? That's really interesting. That Damon Salvatore, he really lives up to his reputation huh?" Jeanne said with a smile.

A look of concern flashed over Jenna's face. "Did something happen between the two of you. I mean, I'm not trying to pry, but it's a small town, a very small town and a lot of talk has been going around and I just feel like I should apologize if he treated you badly. He's a prick."

"Oh, no, he was a perfect gentleman."

"Really?" Jenna said with an obvious tone of disbelief.

"Really, he drove me home the other night when I was helping Stefan and Elena. I invited him in for a drink and we just stayed up talking. We didn't even realize how long it had been until we saw the sun coming up."

"Uh huh, and he didn't try to cop a feel, take his shirt of mid-sentence…nothing like that?"

Jeanne couldn't help but laugh. "No, he didn't do any of that. He actually seemed pretty normal. Well I guess not completely normal. " Jeanne paused for a moment to think of a way to phrase her next question delicately. "Is he…crazy?" She finally blurted out, not as graceful as she hoped it would be.

Jenna muffled a laugh. "Well, I guess that depends on your definition of crazy. He's moody, sullen, often rude, erratic and temperamental. So yeah, I guess you can just sum that all up by calling him crazy."

It was a weird feeling that I had while Jenna was describing him. I know I don't know much about him, and whatever I do know I refuse to believe, but I never saw any side of him that Jenna just described.

From that point on it was kind of hard to gauge any more information about him. I didn't want to look as though I was asking too much, and it doesn't seem as though I'm going to get much information on the whole vampire thing from Jenna anyway. So we just gossiped and talked about each other's lives. I'll have to find another way to approach this whole Damon thing, but for now…I'll just try to forget about him.

* * *

Damon sat in his car parked across the street from The Grill. He saw her through the window talking to Jenna. Every now and then he would listen in to the conversation. He knew they talked about him. She heard what Jeanne had said, 'Is he…crazy?'. He also heard Jenna's response, which was exactly what he had expected her to say. She doesn't know about them and what they are. So really all this conversation is doing is giving Jeanne an even worse perception of who he is.

It had been almost a week since they spoke. Normally Damon was on his A game in crisis situations, but this was one he just couldn't figure out how to handle.

Stefan was on his case the entire week. Poking and prodding about what he was planning to do about her. He wished he had an answer, but he didn't.

All he did know was that he was going to see her tonight. They needed to talk again, in his head he knew he had to make her understand. The other parts of his body however were hoping that the night would end in something that required no talking whatsoever.


	12. Chapter 12

**I would love some feedback, so please leave me a review and let me know what you think. It's going to start getting pretty heavy real soon, so happy reading!**

* * *

Jeanne arrived back at around 3pm and as she turned her car into the driveway, she saw a figure of a man sitting on her porch. Immediately her heart started to race. She wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement that was causing it, probably a little of both.

She got out of her car and as she walked up the steps, the man turned around, except it wasn't who she expected it to be.

"Oh, Stefan…is everything ok?" Jeanne asked, completely taken off guard.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was wondering if we could talk?"

"Of course, is it about your essay? Are you running into some trouble?" Jeanne asked as she opened the door and walked into the house. She turned around expecting him to be following her in, but instead he was still standing on the porch, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Jeanne laughed "Stefan, you can come in. Your brother did the same thing, wouldn't come in until I actually told him to. Is it a Salvatore tradition?"

Stefan smiled "Must be"

Jeanne led Stefan into the kitchen where she poured him a glass of iced tea.

"So, what's up?" She asked as she sat across from him at the table.

"It's about Damon, actually."

Jeanne's ears perked up at that. "Oh, ok…what about Damon?"

Stefan then gently placed his hands on her shoulders and stared Jeanne in the eyes. The second his hands touched her shoulders, she found it impossible to look away.

"You have never seen Damon in your dreams. Damon never told you he was a vampire. Damon never did anything to cause you any concern. The night he came here, the two of you talked about…"

A loud pounding on the door broke Stefan's concentration and the trance he had Jeanne under. Jeanne felt confused and couldn't for the life of her remember what her and Stefan were just talking about. A second pounding on the door brought Jeanne back to her senses.

"Oh Stefan, I'm sorry just give me a second." She said and before Stefan can stop her, Jeanne was opening her front door, and on her porch was the man she thought Stefan was moments earlier.

"Damon…hi" Jeanne said, suddenly struggling to speak.

Damon smiled, then look past her at his brother. "Stefan, what brings you here? Damon asked as he walked into Jeanne's house.

"Just came by to see if Jeanne here could help me with some research for my essay." Stefan replied.

Jeanne found herself in between the two Salvatore brothers, and felt the tension that was radiating from each of them.

"I actually came here to talk to Jeanne myself, so maybe you can come back another time to work on your 'essay'" Damon said sarcastically, practically burning a hole through his brother with his intent stare.

"Or maybe I can finish up here and YOU can come back later."

Jeanne suddenly realized how awkward this entire exchange was.

"Ok, um…I hate to break this up, but I think it would be better if the two of you both came back at another time. I have some errands to run." Jeanne said, not wanting to sound rude, but didn't know how else to put an end to this uncomfortable scenario.

"How about this…if you're not busy tonight. I would love it if you could come over for dinner. Stefan and Elena will be there, you and I can get to know each other better…and you can answer all of Stefan's essay questions…kill two birds with one stone."

Jeanne couldn't push the conversation she and Damon had about vampires and the supernatural aside. She wanted to blurt it out right there, but ironically felt self conscious to sound so crazy, even if she was just repeating what Damon had told her.

"Ok, I'll come for dinner tonight. And maybe we can finish the conversation we were having the other night." Jeanne said, taking both Damon and Stefan by surprise. She even took herself by surprise at how brazen she was for saying that.

Damon nodded and he and Stefan walked out.

'There's something more to this story…and I'm going to find out what it is.' Jeanne thought to herself.

* * *

Stefan and Damon walked for a distance until they knew they were completely out of sight of Jeanne's house. Once they were, Damon grabbed his brother by the throat.

"What the fuck were you doing in there?" He asked, pinning him against a light pole.

Stefan shrugged himself out of Damon's grip. "I was doing what you've been too pussy to do yourself. I was taking care of the situation."

Damon's eyes flashed with anger. "I told you to stay out of it."

"I know what you told me. And I did the opposite. But it doesn't matter anymore anyway, Jeanne's coming for dinner tonight…which was a brilliant plan by the way. Hey Jeanne, can you pass the potatoes…oh yea, by the way were both vampires…how's that steak? Smart fucking move." Stefan said angrily and stormed away from his brother.

In retrospect, Damon didn't think it was such a good idea either. But he didn't know what else to say, and for some God awful reason, inviting her for dinner sounded like it made sense.

* * *

Bonnie sat in her bedroom staring at the stone. She still can't believe what happened earlier today. She brought a man back to life. He was stone cold, toe tag dead…and with a few words she gave him his life back.

The idea that Katherine was willing to use something this powerful as a bargaining chip scared the shit out of her.

What could the new teacher in town possibly have that would interest Katherine. And why must the web get even more tangled than it already was.

Bonnie needed to figure this whole thing out, and make sure no one gets hurt in the process.

"Hello?" Elena answered her cell phone on the first ring.

"Hey, it's me." Bonnie replied. "You know the teacher you introduced me to at the party, Tyra's cousin?"

"Yeah, her name is Jeanne. What about her?"

"How come she moved here?" Bonnie asked, inquisitively.

"I don't think I know the whole story, but her cousins husband got her a job at the school, so she moved here to take it."

"I see…do you know if Damon has heard from Katherine at all recently?" Bonnie asked, now causing Elena some concern.

"Not that I'm aware of…why would you ask that?"

"Just wondering."

"No, Bonnie…that's not the type of thing you just wonder. There's a reason you're asking that, and what does it have to do with Jeanne?" Elena asked, now lowering her voice to make sure no one in the house can hear her.

"Nothing Elena, honestly it's just my nerves. I think I'm over reacting anyway….I'll talk to you later."

And before Elena can ask what she's over reacting about, Bonnie hung up the phone.

* * *

"What?" Was Damon's response to Elena's phone call.

"I need to talk to you." Elena responded

"Ok, talk"

"Not on the phone, where are you?" Elena asked impatiently.

"I'm in my car, I'll be home in a minute."

"Good, I'm here already."

A few minutes later, Damon walked in to the house.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, expecting them to be together.

"Couldn't tell you." Damon responded, Stefan being the last thing Damon wants to discuss right now.

"So I got a strange phone call from Bonnie." Elena started

"Ah, Bonnie Bennett…one of my biggest fans. And what was so important about this phone call that you rushed over here to tell me?"

"Well, first she asked about Jeanne, Tyra's cousin. Asked why she moved here and stuff, which was weird. And then out of no where she changed the subject to Katherine."

Damon stiffened at the sound of her name.

"What about Katherine?"

"She asked if you two had seen each other lately?"

"Why would she ask about Jeanne, and then about Katherine?"

"That's the part I was hoping you could shed some light on."

Damon was silent, venom in his eyes.

"Is something going on with you and Jeanne? I thought nothing ever happened after that night you went to her house."

"Nothing is going on between Jeanne and I. She is coming to dinner tonight though, I need you to be here."

"Why would you need me here?" Elena asked, not following how any of this makes sense.

"Because tonight I'm going to prove to her that I'm not crazy. And she may need you for some moral support."

And with that Damon left the room, leaving Elena more confused than she was when she first got there.

* * *

As Jeanne put the finishing touches on her make up, her nerves finally started to kick in. She felt pretty confident all day that she was going to go that house and not leave until she had answers. It didn't occur to her until just now that she might not like the answers she gets.

She grabbed the bottle of red wine she bought from the liquor store, checked herself once more in the mirror, then headed out the door.

Normally a very fast walker, Jeanne was walking at a snails pace to the house. The closer she got, the more nervous she felt. She wasn't even sure why she was putting herself in this position.

The logical thing to do would just be to pretend it never happened and leave it at that. I guess that's a lot easier said than done.

Finally at the door, Jeanne lifted her hand to knock, but the door swung open before her knuckles even made contact.

Damon stood in front of her in black slacks and a dark blue button down shirt that made his eyes look even bluer than usual.

Her breath actually caught in her throat at the sight of him.

Maybe he is schizophrenic, but good Lord he's fine as hell.

"How did you know I was here?" Were the first words out of her mouth, she probably should have started with 'hi'.

"I don't know, I guess I sensed you…come in." Damon said, and stood to the side to allow her into the house. Just as cold as it was last time, good thing she brought a sweater.

As Damon led her into the dining room, he stopped midway and turned to her.

He didn't say anything, he didn't have to. She has seen that look in his eyes plenty of times over the last year

He leaned down and kissed her, gently placing his hand on her cheek.

When he finally pulled away he looked down at her and smiled…"You look beautiful tonight."

Jeanne felt her cheeks turn an ungodly shade of red, but she did manage to smile back. "Thank you."

Damon took her by the hand and continued to lead her into the dining room where the table was set for four.

"Where are Elena and Stefan?" She asked, having a seat at the table.

"They're upstairs, they'll be down in a minute. I know we have a lot to talk about tonight, which is why I wanted Stefan and Elena to be here. I think they'll help make sense of it for you."

"They…know? What you told me about…you know." Jeanne physically could not bring herself to say the word vampire. It was just too unnatural.

Damon laughed even though he knew it wasn't a funny situation. "It'll all make sense soon, I promise."

* * *

"What do you mean he's going to tell her? Why is he going to tell her?" Elena asked frantically, knowing how terrible of an idea this is.

"Because there's a lot more to the story than you know." Stefan responded, still trying to cool down from the scene that happened earlier.

"More to the story? She moved her two weeks ago, the story can't be all that long yet!"

For the next few minutes, Stefan went on to describe the cliff notes version of what Damon had told him. He told Elena about New Orleans, the dreams, and ended with the conversation Damon and Jeanne had just the other night. He did however leave out the part about Jeanne and Damon being linked. He still wasn't sure about that himself, and wasn't ready to add more drama to an already very dramatic situation.

Elena stood there dumbfounded.

"That makes absolutely no sense." Elena finally muttered

"Does anything make sense around here?" Stefan replied, and the two of them headed down the dining room for what was sure to be a very interesting evening.


	13. Chapter 13

**PLEASE REVIEW! I'm dying to know what you think! Hope you are enjoying it and I would love the feedback!**

* * *

As Jeanne sat at the dining room table waiting for Stefan and Elena to join them, she felt her nerves subside a little bit. Her stomach was still doing cartwheels, but she wasn't shaking like she was when she first arrived, which she guessed was a good thing.

Damon was in the kitchen, she assumed preparing something for dinner, while she drank a glass of wine and waited.

A few minutes later, she heard Elena and Stefan coming down the stairs and walking towards the dining room, and all of a sudden her nerves came back full force.

The eternal skeptic was not ready for a conversation where she going to be convinced that vampires exist, let alone existing in the same room as her.

She wanted to remain calm, cool and collected but she doubted herself big time.

Elena entered the room first and immediately Jeanne could tell that she wasn't as upbeat and cheerful as she usually was. She was pretending to be, but there was a worried aura around her.

"Hey Jeanne, how are you?" Elena asked in her forced chipper voice as she took a seat across from Jeanne.

"I'm good, how are those essays coming along?" Jeanne asked just as Stefan entered the room.

"Oh, we're getting there, still searching for that perfect topic." Elena said trying to sound convincing since the whole essay thing was just a ploy to introduce Jeanne to Damon, which Elena was now realizing she was about a year late on.

Elena and Jeanne continued on with small talk with Stefan chiming in every now and then.

After only a few minutes, Damon finally emerged from the kitchen with a salad bowl in his hands and placed it on the table.

Stefan was literally speechless. The brother he knows does not care enough about anyone to serve them, least of all a woman. The way Damon acts around and about Jeanne is a side of him that Stefan never expected to see in their lifetime, it's almost…unsettling.

Damon took his seat next to Jeanne and the four began eating, keeping the conversation light and non-threatening. Jeanne didn't really take notice to the fact that both Stefan and Damon were just moving the food around on their plate, but never actually taking a bite. Apparently she was too wrapped up in her own psychobabble to notice anything out of the ordinary.

After about 20 minutes of conversation that was going nowhere, Jeanne finally worked up the courage to ask questions.

She put her fork down, took a sip from her wine glass and then went for it.

"Ok, so instead of an elephant in the room, apparently there's a vampire. Would someone like to explain what the fuck is going on." 'Smooth' she thought to herself, then let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

But before anyone can answer, a loud pounding at the door quickly changed the subject.

"So that seems to keep happening at all the wrong times." Stefan joked, referring to Damon's interruption at Jeanne's house earlier.

"I'll get it." Elena said and hurried from the table.

Damon, Stefan and Jeanne sat there in awkward silence waiting for the visitor to leave.

Instead, Elena made her way back to the dining room with the visitor in tow.

"Damon's in here." Elena said, re-entering the dining room with Bonnie following behind her.

"Can't this wait?" Damon asked, annoyed at the interruption.

Jeanne just sat there feeling more awkward than she did before her outburst.

When Bonnie saw Jeanne sitting next to Damon, every fear she had earlier was confirmed. And everything she was about to say was going to have to wait, there's no way she could explain the whole situation with her sitting right there.

"Oh, I didn't realize you had a guest. I'll come back later." Bonnie said and went to leave, but everyone at the table, including Jeanne, knew that something was very wrong.

Jeanne stood up. "This seems important, I'm gonna get going. We can finish this another time."

"No, we're going to finish this now, because I have a feeling whatever Bonnie came here to tell me, has to do with you." Damon responded and gently forced her to sit back down.

"Has to do with me? I've been here for two weeks. The most exciting thing I've done is buy a used car, I'm pretty sure that whatever is going on, has nothing to do with me."

Bonnie was unsure of exactly what Jeanne knew about the dark side of Mystic Falls and if she knew nothing, well Bonnie sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell her.

"Ok, everyone sit down and let's get this over with." Damon said, taking charge of the situation.

"Jeanne, I'm a vampire. I know you don't want to believe me, but I am…so is my brother. Remember about 6 months ago when you woke up and you had those marks on your neck? You convinced yourself that you must have just scratched yourself. You didn't scratch yourself. I did that to you. You know it's true and you know you believe me. There's a lot more to this story, and if you want to know the rest, I'll be happy to tell you. But for now, that's all you need to know." Damon said, and then the room became silent. Everyone looked at Jeanne waiting for her reaction.

Unfortunately for them, she didn't have one.

She sat there. Stoic. Expressionless.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, finally she spoke.

"Prove it." Jeanne said. It was all she could say. She had no idea what she meant by 'prove it', but if Damon wanted her to believe him, then that's what he was going to have to do.

That wasn't really what anyone at the table expected her to say.

"Prove it? How do you want me to prove it?" Damon asked, knowing that proving it would scare the living shit out of her.

Jeanne nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. "If you asked me to prove to you I was a woman, I could think of a bunch of ways to make my case. If you really want me to believe you, prove it."

Bonnie, Elena and Stefan watched on quietly and intently, not sure of what Damon was going to do, even worse, not sure how Jeanne was going to react.

But Damon didn't do anything.

Jeanne wasn't really sure what took over her, but she wasn't nervous anymore, she was angry.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and mockingly flaunted her neck.

"This is what vampires do, right? They bite your neck…suck your blood? At least that's what I've seen in movies. Are real vampires different? Do you guys wear capes, or turn into bats? Come on Damon, prove to me your vampire, bite me right here." She taunted with her finger delicately placed on her neck.

That was supposed to be her big finish. She was going to grab her purse and storm out of the house, but that isn't what happened next.

Within less than a second Damon had her up against the far wall of the room, which was at least 20 feet from where they were just standing.

She felt his mouth against her neck. She felt the sharpness of his fangs grazing her skin. Her pulse was practically doing a drum solo underneath the heat of his lips.

He pulled himself away from her and she got only a glimpse of a face that just wasn't human. She only had maybe 3 seconds to process it until his face went back to normal.

For reasons Jeanne will never understand, she wasn't scared of him. She did ask him to prove it, and that's exactly what he did, but he didn't hurt her and everyone in the room knew how easily he could have.

Jeanne stared Damon in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity. No one spoke. This was not the way this was supposed to happen.

"Take me home." Jeanne finally whispered to him, itching to get away from the audience.

Without saying another word to anyone else who was in the room, Jeanne collected her things and allowed Damon to lead her out of the house.

Once outside, Damon started to head towards his car, but Jeanne protested.

"I need to walk." She said, hoping the cool air would calm her nerves.

After that, Jeanne didn't say another word until they reached her doorstep.

Damon wasn't expecting an invitation, the fact that she let him walk her home was actually a lot more than he expected.

Jeanne put her hand on the knob, then turned back to him.

"That night I saw you at the party, in the bedroom…you were saying something to me about forgetting I ever met you, or something like that…what were you talking about?"

"Honestly? I was trying to erase your memory"

"Why?"

"Because you and I were never supposed to see each other again after New Orleans."

"Except in my dreams you mean."

"Right."

"So, why did we meet again?

"Because fate is one twisted son of a bitch."

"Are you dangerous?" She asked, knowing how foolish a question that is, but she couldn't stop herself from asking it.

"Usually."

"Can you give me the un-edited answer this time?"

"If you ask anyone who actually knows me, they'll say that I am."

"But I'm not asking anyone who knows you, I'm asking you."

"I guess I just have a bad reputation."

"Yeah, for sleeping with girls and never calling them again. I haven't heard the one about you puncturing vital organs."

"Let's put it this way, at this point…you're a lot more dangerous to me than I am to you."

"Am I supposed to know what that means?"

Damon sighed. "After 150 years you would think I would have better answers for you. All I can say is that you don't have to be scared of me."

Jeanne's brows furrowed, "Are you counting in dog years?"

Damon smiled, but didn't say anything.

Jeanne realized she was still gripping the doorknob, to the point that it made her knuckles white.

"You want to come in? Your car's not here, so word won't get out until at least tomorrow afternoon."

Damon responded by picking Jeanne up, carrying her into the house and closing the door behind them, his hands never leaving her body. She gasped, that might take a little getting used to.

Once inside, he kissed her almost viciously, and she welcomed it completely.

He carried her to the couch and laid her down, quickly covering her body with his own.

His hands explored every inch of her body as she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. She finally pulled it off to reveal a body a sculptor couldn't recreate. It was perfect.

Damon literally ripped the dress she was wearing off of her, the sound of the tearing fabric sent chills through her body.

There was no comparing this to the dreams. The dreams felt real, but this was real.

Feeling her skin against his almost made Damon uncontrollable, he had to fight to keep himself together, to not scare her again.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, completely out of breath.

He knew what she meant.

"At first."

"And then after that?"

"It makes the best orgasm you've ever had feel like a foot massage."

She smiled, her eyes twinkling under the moonlight that flooded through the window.

"Do it." She demanded softly.

Damon studied her face, if he sensed the slightest hesitation from her, he would back off…but there was no hesitation whatsoever.

In one simple move, Damon forced himself inside her…then clamped onto her neck.

Just as he had said, her initial reaction was to scream out in pain. But not even 10 seconds later she felt like the world around her stopped and the sensations running through her body were euphoric.

If she could bottle this feeling up and sell it, she would be a millionaire.

Damon knew not to push her too hard, to take it slow. When both of their bodies were completely worn out, he pulled himself out of her, then released her neck.

She didn't speak for at least 5 minutes.

She touched her hand to her neck and felt the trickle of blood that dripped down to her collarbone.

Did this really just happen? And did it really just feel that good?


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi all! So this is a short chapter, but I really wanted to get it up tonight because it is setting the premise for chapters to come. Hope you like it, and please comment! It makes it so much easier to write if I know what you guys think! Enjoy!**

* * *

Damon and Jeanne laid there for over an hour.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time he was this satisfied and content. He's not really sure if he's ever felt that way, period.

"You're taking this a lot better than I expected you to." He said, while his fingers circled around the ring in her belly button.

Jeanne smiled. "Well, the alternative was to freak out, run out of your house screaming and probably end up on a 24 hour psychiatric hold. In which case we wouldn't be laying here right now, so I guess I made the right choice." She said, staring up at the ceiling.

Truth was, she was taking it a lot better than she expected to also.

It always drove her crazy in those damn movies. You know the ones, the handsome vampire seduces the young girl and when she finds out he's a vampire, she acts like she just found out he's a Gemini.

She would always roll her eyes and change the channel.

'Who writes this shit?" She would think to herself, and turn to the first trashy reality show she could find.

Now that she's the one being seduced by the handsome vampire, she's kicking herself for always changing the channel. She's kind of wondering what happens next…

"Why me?" She asked, almost unaware that she was speaking the words out loud.

"Why you, what?" Damon asked, not sure where she was going.

"Why did you come back to me after New Orleans? I think it's safe to assume I wasn't your first one night stand. I'm almost scared to know how many there were before me, but why did you come to see me again?"

Of all the questions Jeanne could have asked about who and what he was, he didn't expect her to start with that one.

"Because I couldn't stop thinking about you, and that's never happened to me before."

"But in the dreams, it was just sex. You wouldn't even let me speak to you."

"I thought that if I just came to you and we had sex, that would be enough for me. I was scared that if we spoke, I would start to get attached to you, and I didn't want that to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because you lived in New York, because you were still hurting over your ex-boyfriend, and because I didn't really know how to explain all of this. And I never intended to."

At that point Jeanne sat up so she could look at him.

"You don't find it strange that of all the places in the world I could have moved to, I moved into a house around the block from yours? That can't be a coincidence."

Damon knew it wasn't a coincidence. He knew it had to have something to do with being linked to her, but now was not the time to get into that.

"Maybe Mystic Falls is just where you're supposed to be." Damon said, pulling her back down against him.

He kissed her lips and she couldn't remember what they were even talking about.

Right this second, everything was perfect. Nothing could ruin it.

* * *

Julian hadn't seen Damon since 1944. December 18th 1944 to be exact.

The night that Damon took everything from him.

He and Damon were partners in crime. For decades they traveled all across the country leaving a trail of blood and lust.

Women threw themselves at the boys. Damon with the dark hair and blue eyes. Julian with the dirty blonde hair and scar above his left eye that women thought was so sexy.

It was almost comical how easy it was.

And then Julian met the woman who changed it all for him.

Her name was Beverly, she worked in a factory as many young women did during war time.

She was 19 and he was 23 (for the last 60 years). They fell in love almost immediately.

Julian was no longer interested in random women. All he wanted was Beverly, and Damon was pissed.

First Damon tried to talk him out of it, telling him how foolish it was. They could literally have anyone they wanted, and he was gonna settle for some small town factory girl?

It made no sense.

Eventually however, Damon kept his distance and Julian lived his life happily with Beverly.

One night, when Damon was on one of his blood benders, he was roaming down the street late at night searching for his next fix. It was late and no respectable woman would be walking alone at this time of night.

But Beverly was.

Damon never even saw her face.

He came up from behind her and dragged her into the nearest alley. Damon was so high on blood that even if he did see her face, it was very likely he wouldn't recognize it.

Damon drained her until her body was lifeless.

Julian sensed that something was wrong. Very wrong.

Just the night before, Julian drank from Beverly for the first time. Her blood was running through him like fire.

Sensing her exact where abouts, Julian was able to find her within seconds.

He showed up just as Damon was dropping her body to the ground.

Damon and Julian locked eyes, and when Damon looked down at the body at his feet, he realized what he had just done.

And then he vanished.

That was the last time Julian and Damon saw each other.

Convinced that Damon left the country and was hiding out in Europe, Julian went on a man hunt to find Damon and rip him apart.

He searched for years, all over Europe. He thought he had come close to finding him a couple of times, but it always came up cold.

Eventually, Julian stopped trying.

He went back to being the monster he was before Beverly, maybe even worse.

About a year ago, Julian's anger returned. Nothing triggered it, it just came back full force all on it's own, and this time he was going to find Damon if it was the last thing he did on this earth.

Julian called an old friend of his who owed him a favor. He could kick himself for not thinking of it sooner, but as the old saying goes…it was better late than never.

The friend Julian he called was a witch he'd met years ago. Her name was Martina. He'd saved her life once before, and now she was going to pay up.

He asked her to perform a locator spell, which would tell him exactly where Damon was.

He was in Mystic Falls….and New York…at the same time.

It didn't make any sense. Yes a vampire could move pretty damn fast, but there was no logical reason for Martina to sense him simultaneously in two different locations.

Baffled herself at this strange occurrence, Martina began to do some research as to how this could happen.

When she figured it all out, Julian felt like he hit lotto.

Damon had a human link.

The irony of it was enough to send Julian in a tailspin. He was ready to leave right then and there.

But he had to be smart.

He had to set it up perfectly.

Originally he just planned to find Damon and kill him. Not the most original of plans, but it would have gotten the message across.

Now his plan was much bigger, and much more elaborate.

Julian decided it was time to relocate to New York. He was going to keep an eye on her for a little while before setting anything into action. He didn't want to be sloppy.

He also had eyes on Damon. He was planning on going to New Orleans for a weekend. That works.

Compelling Jeanne's friends to suggest the New Orleans trip was a breeze. Compelling Jeanne to agree was even easier. She was all doped up from pain meds she probably didn't even need to be compelled to agree.

Unfortunately, his plan didn't really take off like he hoped it would.

In reality, it actually took off way beyond what he ever expected. But Julian didn't know about the dreams. So as far as he was concerned, Jeanne and Damon never saw each other again after their Mardi Gras one night stand.

He was going to have to be more aggressive.

He had to find a way to get Jeanne into Mystic Falls. Damon wouldn't be able to resist her if she was so close.

And what better way to kill him than to kill her in front of him.

It was perfect.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hope you're all enjoying it so far. Please review :) **

* * *

Eventually, Jeanne fell asleep. She forgot what it was like to fall in asleep in a mans arms.

After the car accident, she would have said it's over rated. Just like relationships, they're over rated.

But tonight, there was nothing over rated about it.

When she woke up the next morning, Damon wasn't laying next to her.

Groggily she got herself off the couch and worked her way into the kitchen.

That's usually how it happens in the movies. The girl wakes up the next morning alone, her first instinct is to be disappointed that the guy slipped out without saying good bye, but then she walks into the kitchen to a fresh pot of coffee, home made pancakes and a shirtless man.

Except when she got to the kitchen it was empty. No coffee, no pancakes and definitely no shirtless man.

She went back into the living room where she and Damon spent the night thinking maybe he left a note on the table.

Because that's what happens in movies next.

After she gets disappointed that he's not in the kitchen, she finds the note signed with an XO and she's happy again.

But there was no note.

Was she just used? Just like everyone said she would be?

She sat down on the couch and let the night before replay in her mind.

She remembered every detail from the explosion at his house when she asked him to prove he was a vampire, to the explosion on her couch that sent shivers through her body just thinking about it.

And then she remembered the bite.

She rushed to the nearest mirror in a panic. There's no way that could have actually happened. But once she reached the mirror and moved her hair away from her neck, she had all the proof she needed in the form of two tiny dots. Identical to the ones she woke up with months ago and couldn't for the life of her figure out where they came from.

Suddenly she felt light headed.

How can this actually be happening?

* * *

It wasn't until hours after he left that Damon realized he never even left a note to tell her he was leaving.

Usually when he wakes up in a woman's house, his intentions are to leave without any further communication.

This might take some getting used to.

He woke up that morning with a voice mail from Stefan that he needed to speak to Damon urgently.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't give a shit. But it wasn't until this morning that Damon remembered Bonnie coming to the house during dinner. After everything that had happened from that point on, Bonnie was the last thing on his mind.

She had something to talk to him about and that's probably what Stefan wants to talk to him about today. And it had something to do with Jeanne.

Damon went straight home, but the house was empty.

He tried Stefan's cell phone a couple of times, but Stefan wasn't answering.

He sent Jeanne a quick text apologizing for leaving without saying goobye, then jumped in the shower.

He came out about 10 minutes later, naked except for the towel that draped over his shoulders.

Assuming no one was in the house, he walked from the bathroom down the hall to his bedroom to get dressed, and was surprised to see that he had a visitor waiting patiently for him on his bed.

"I was a lot more decent when you caught me coming out of the shower." Katherine said, not hiding the fact that she had just been looking through his phone.

He snatched from her hand and yanked her off the bed.

"What are you doing here?" It was more of a demand than a question.

She forcefully removed herself from his grip and walked to the other side of the room.

"I came to see how everything was coming along with that little problem you were having." She said as she discreetly searched around to find any clue that would lead her to this mystery woman.

"Everything is fine, I appreciate the concern." Damon said sarcastically, fully aware that no intentions of Katherine's were ever pure.

"So who is she?" She asked, in a no-bullshit sort of way.

"Why is it important to you?"

"Oh come on Damon, we have a very long history. I thought we were finally able to share things with each other." She said with an insincere pout.

In the blink of an eye, Damon had Katherine against the wall with his forearm pressed against her throat. "This is not an issue you want to press with me. I will not think twice about ripping your heart out and throwing it in a garbage disposal."

Katherine may not have gotten her name or where to find her, but she got something equally as valuable. This girl, whoever she is, is Damon's weakness, in more ways than one.

There was still Bonnie, and Katherine had a good feeling Bonnie would deliver on her end of the bargain. The Celontes was too precious a commodity to risk. Bonnie would lead Katherine directly to her.

Once Damon loosened his grip on Katherine, she composed herself and left without another word.

* * *

So Damon did contact her after all, but 'Sorry left early, call you later." was a pretty weak message after the night they had just had.

Jeanne had to clear her head. Since it was a beautiful day out and she only had less than a week before school began, she decided she would head out for a jog.

As she turned the corner, she saw Elena heading out of the Salvatore house.

She slowed down as she approached her but even when she was only 10 feet away, Elena acted as thought she didn't even see her.

"Hey Elena." Jeanne said once she was face to face with her.

Elena seemed confused at first. "Oh, hi" She finally said. She was acting a little off, but Jeanne didn't know why.

'Don't ask about Damon. You don't want to look needy and clingy.' Jeanne thought to herself, but the words still came out as if they had a mind of their own.

"Um, is Damon home?" She asked

Elena seemed to study Jeanne intently, hesitating before answering.

"No, he's not home. "

"Oh, ok. You know I actually wanted to apologize to you and Stefan for running out the way I did last night. I didn't mean to bolt like that, but it was just a lot to take in all at once, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Where did you go after you left?" Elena asked.

Jeanne blushed. She was sure that Elena was aware of the fact that Damon hadn't come home after they left together. She suddenly felt hot and pulled her hair up into a pony tail, unintentionally revealing the marks on her neck.

"I went home. I just felt like everyone's eyes were on me and I needed to speak to Damon alone. I guess I felt a little better after we talked some more."

Elena smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Ok, I'm gonna go for a jog. I'll see you later." And with that, Jeanne went on her way.

Katherine stood there, stunned at how easy this all turned out to be.

That was the girl, she was sure of it. She didn't catch her name, but knowing what she looks like would make the whole process run a lot more smoothly.

She could kick herself for making that deal with Bonnie. Now she was out a Celontes, which she could have used to bargain for something she couldn't do on her own. But she wasn't going to let that ruin her moment.

She just found Damon's human link.

* * *

Julian settled into a hotel that was just on the outskirts of town.

He couldn't let himself be seen just yet.

If he ran into Damon now, his whole plan would turn to shit.

He had to keep a low profile for a little while.

So far, everything was working out perfectly. Damon and Jeanne had spent the night together last night. He was definitely falling for her. All he had to do was give them a little more time and he would be dangerously in love, there was no doubt about it.

For right now, he needed to perfect his act. If he was going to pretend to be a calculus teacher, he was gonna have to brush up on some stuff.

Or he could just compel his students to sit there like mute robots for the duration of his class period.

Maybe he would do that, god how he hates chatty teenagers.

* * *

"It's about God damn time you answer your phone. I've been calling you since this morning" Damon said to his brother, completely irritated.

"Sorry, I didn't realize my ringer was off."

"So, what did Bonnie have to say after we left last night?" Damon asked, even though he basically knew at this point what it was. What Bonnie had to do with it however, he wasn't quite sure.

Bonnie had filled Stefan and Elena in on everything, leaving out the part about the Celontes.

Stefan then relayed that conversation to his brother.

"So Katherine wanted Bonnie to find out who she was so that she could have leverage over me." Damon said over the phone as he was piecing everything together in his mind.

"Yeah, basically" Stefan replied

"But why go to Bonnie?" Is the part that he still wasn't able to figure out.

"I don't know. Maybe Katherine thought nobody knew who Jeanne was, so she wanted Bonnie to perform a spell to identify her."

"And according to Bonnie, Katherine gave her two days to find out?"

"That's what Bonnie said."

Damon's anger was at a boiling point, but he was trying for the sake of humanity to control it.

Katherine can't find out who she is. There's no way.

It was situations just like this one that forced Damon to keep his distance when he was visiting Jeanne in her dreams. He was dragging her into a mess that she couldn't protect herself from. It wasn't fair to her, but he couldn't stay away from her.

And now that she's so close, it'll be impossible. She's like a drug to him. And just as is the case with all drugs, they were playing with their lives.


	16. Chapter 16

**Please review, it's super helpful to be creative when I get feedback...Enjoy! :) **

Once Jeanne returned home from her jog, she felt more like herself again. Her New York self…pre-accident. Living in Mystic Falls these past few weeks had taken everything she knew about life, put it in a blender without the lid and splattered it all over the walls. Since the night she saw Damon at Ric's birthday party, not a second had gone by where she wasn't confused, scared, and horny. Very often feeling all three at once. But for some reason, today…she was back on track.

She spent the next few hours putting the finishing touches on what she needed to start the new school year. She hadn't thought about Damon much…well, that wasn't true. She did think about him…but not about all that she had learned about him. She came to the conclusion that life just isn't what it seems…and she was ok with the knowledge that there were things out there she never knew existed. That didn't make them bad…or good, they just were.

This was the first time since she moved to Mystic Falls that she actually felt like it was home. She was in her own house, with a great job waiting for her…and Damon. It all felt like it was the way it should be…and after what happened with Jake, part of her never thought she would feel like this again, but just as everyone told her…she would, and she did.

She walked down the stairs to her living room after a long hot shower to find Tyra sitting on her couch waiting for her.

"Hey T, what's going on?" She asked, excited to see her cousin. After all that had been going on the past week, she hadn't thought about her cousin once.

"Not much, just thought I would stop in and say hi." Tyra said. Her tone wasn't conversational. It was as if she were just filling the time before she got to what she really wanted to say…which she did.

"So, it's basically all over town that you and Damon are together." She said, with no expression whatsoever.

"Uh…well I wouldn't say 'together'. We've just hung out a few times."

"He's going to hurt you."

And that comment pissed Jeanne off. "Do you even know him? And I didn't ask if you know his 'reputation', but do you know him? He's been nothing that you say he is…and it's really getting on my nerves that everyone feels the need to tell me what they think of him when they've probably never even had a conversation with him."

"The whole reason I wanted you to come to Mystic Falls was to get out of the funk you were in after what happened with Jake, not to throw yourself into a relationship that will probably hurt you even worse than he did!" She angrily shot back.

"Hurt me even worse than Jake? So are you saying Damon will give me 5 broken ribs instead of the 4 I got last time? If I feel like seeing Damon, that's exactly what I'm gonna do so you and whoever else is so damn concerned can kiss my ass."

Without another word, Tyra got off the couch and headed for the door and as she opened the door intending to storm out…someone was in her way.

Damon.

She looked at him with disgust in her eyes, then walked right past him.

Jeanne sat there, trying to simmer down while Damon walked in the house.

"So your cousin isn't my biggest fan I take it." He said and sat on the couch across from her.

"She's just looking out for me." Jeanne responded, knowing that to be true…but still not wanting to hear it.

"I have to talk to you about something." Damon said, his expression grim.

"Ok, but nothing bad…I've been in a good mood today, I don't need anything else ruining it." Jeanne said as she pulled the towel off her head and combed her fingers through her wet hair.

"You have to leave." Damon blurted out.

"Leave where? " Jeanne asked, not following, hand stopping mid way through her hair.

"Mystic Falls, you shouldn't be here."

"And why shouldn't I be here?" Jeanne asked, her anger starting to boil again thinking about all Tyra just said.

"It's just…it's not safe for you to be here, and it's not safe for me to have you here. I know that doesn't make any sense to you, but I can't really explain it any more than that. You just have to take my word and leave."

"Not returning a girls phone calls is one thing, but now your forcing them out of town? That's a little extreme, don't you think."

Damon was starting to get frustrated. "It's not what you think, it's for your own safety. I can't have you here." Damon said, raising his voice for the first time since he and Jeanne met.

And she was pissed.

"Ok, well I'm not leaving. I can understand how you would think that this world revolves around your blue eyes and leather jackets, but you aren't the reason I came here and I'm not leaving just because you don't want me around anymore. "

"Jeanne listen to me!" He said and grabbed her shoulders. "I can't get into details with you but if certain people find out who you are then we are both in trouble. I have a lot of enemies which makes you very valuable to them. Stop being a stubborn bitch and do what I'm telling you to do."

"Do what you're telling me to do? What is this the fucking stone age? I don't even know what you're talking about and honestly I don't want to hear anymore about your vampire secret society bullshit. If you have enemies, then go deal with your enemies and get the fuck out of my house." And just as soon as the words left Jeanne's lips, Damon was gone.

* * *

Bonnie sat on her bed staring down at the stone in her hands, wondering if Katherine knew she went to talk to Damon, or if she was just bluffing.

She wasn't going to give Jeanne up, that was for shit sure, but she still wasn't sure how to skirt around it.

She can't say that she doesn't know who the girl is, Katherine would know she was lying.

She only had a few hours before Katherine would be expecting her to dish out the info, so she needed to figure this out. But first, she had to make sure Jeanne was protected.

Jeanne was washing the dishes, because that's what she tends to do when she's angry…she cleans. You can't even imagine how spotless her apartment was after the Jake fiasco.

She was just on her last dish, about to start vacuuming every room in the house when she heard the door bell.

Her initial thought was that it must be Damon coming to apologize, which lightened her mood a bit…but she refused to appear soft and meek, she was going to make him work for her forgiveness.

She opened the door to see Bonnie, who she had never really spoken to and could not understand why she was at her doorstep.

"Hi…can I help you with something?" Normally she may have sounded a little friendlier, but forcing her anger toward Damon aside was a difficult thing to do.

"I'm sorry to just barge in on you, Elena told me you were helping her with her admissions essays and I was wondering if I can ask you a few questions myself?"

At the very least, it was a welcome distraction.

"Sure, come on in." Jeanne moved aside and allowed Bonnie into her home.

"Wow, it's so clean in here" Bonnie observed, impressed.

Jeanne laughed…"Yeah, I'm a bit of a neat freak. Have a seat, I'll go grab some books you might find useful."

"Thanks so much…and would you mind if I used your bathroom?" Bonnie asked.

Jeanne showed her where it was, then head upstairs to her office to find the books.

Once inside the bathroom, Bonnie took out a vile of liquefied vervain and poured a little bit in each of the 4 perfume bottles she had in the closet.

'Here's to hoping she wears perfume everyday' Bonnie thought to herself.

When she returned to the living room, Jeanne was already there.

They spent the next hour talking about the same thing Jeanne coached Elena and Stefan on. Bonnie was half listening, half trying to figure out how to handle Katherine.

When Jeanne said all she could, Bonnie thanked her and left.

Well at least that was taken care of. She took Jeanne for a daily perfume wearer, so she felt a little more at ease knowing she had some protection.

But why hadn't Damon thought of that? Or maybe he had already…either way, in this town there's no such thing as too much vervain.

As if on cue, Bonnie's cell phone beeped. It was a text from Katherine…

_**Jeanne Cardella – 2614 Pine Brook Road…Thx anyway, I'm sure I'll have another use for you…Nothing's for free.**_

Bonnie stared at the phone long after she finished reading the text.

She knew it already…this was going to be bad.

* * *

Julian parked his car outside of Jeanne's house, giving him the perfect angle to peer in to her front window.

He heard the conversation between Jeanne and Damon, and he was confused. And he hated nothing more than being confused. Well, he hated Damon more than confusion…but confusion was a very close second.

Why does he want her to leave? It makes no sense. He kept saying it wasn't safe for her here. There's no way he knows that Julian is in town, he's been very careful not to be seen. So what else is it? Why is he trying to force her out.

This was not fitting into his plan at all.

* * *

Damon didn't want to tell her about Katherine. He didn't want to tell her about their lives being linked. He wanted her to live in ignorant bliss…he wanted her to know that he would be able to protect her from anything and she had nothing in life to worry about.

He couldn't promise that now. Yes he's taken Katherine out before, but this was different. With Jeanne involved his head wasn't screwed on right. He caught himself with his guard down more than once and that's exactly why he wanted her gone.

To be safe…away from all of this.

But she had to be stubborn. Which is actually something he admired about her, but at this moment it was hard to consider her stuborness a good quality.

Damon was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Stefan enter the room.

"So did she agree to leave?" Stefan asked

When Damon looked up and saw his brother, he knew what had to be done. It was the last thing on earth he wanted to do…but it was his only choice.

"Compel her, make her forget about me. Do whatever you have to do, but get her out of Mystic Falls." And with that, Damon left.


	17. Chapter 17

Jeanne had the typical 'first day of school' jitters. She was nervous, anxious and praying hard that she wouldn't stutter or turn an ungodly shade of red.

She got to the school extra early and settled into her classroom. She couldn't believe this was all finally happening. After years working her way through grad school, this was the pay off. Unfortunately, she wasn't as happy as she should have been about it. It's been 5 days since she had that conversation with Damon, and she was just as mad now as she was then.

He tried to contact her a few times, but she refused to respond. Who did he think he was? Telling her to leave like she was a little robot programmed to do what he says.

He hasn't known her long enough to know that telling Jeanne to do something was a sure fire way to get her to do the opposite. She's just about ready to run for God damn mayor of Mystic Falls, that's how determined she is to stay.

But that's not important right now. Making a good first impression and not being eaten alive by teenagers is.

As students slowly start to file in, Jeanne notices a few familiar faces. Stefan particularly. This might be harder than she thought.

Luckily however, Jeanne underestimates her ability to work a room. It only takes a few minutes for her to work out her nerves and get down to business. And the students actually seem to like her…despite her New York accent.

Once the bell rings, the students begin to leave, but Stefan stays behind.

"Was that the first time you taught a class?" He asks.

"Yeah, actually it was. Did it show?"

"No, not at all…you did really good."

Jeanne smiles, then returns her focus back to her notes. She really didn't have any intention on continuing a conversation that she knew would lead to Damon.

"Damon told me what happened. It's really not what you think." Stefan continues.

Jeanne looks out the door to make sure no one is around, then turns to Stefan. "I'm not talking about this here, go off to class…you're going to be late."

Stefan nods, and heads out of the room.

Jeanne's next few classes all go as well as the first one. She is so much more comfortable than she gave herself credit for. By lunch time, she is in probably the best mood she's been in since she arrived in Mystic Falls.

She walks by the teachers lounge to sit and have her lunch, but in it she sees about 5 or 6 teachers, all in their 60's or better discussing education reform.

Boring.

So she heads outside, and finds a quiet spot on campus to sit and have her lunch.

"I take it you don't have enough gray hair to be allowed in the teacher's lounge just yet?" Someone says, and Jeanne looks up to see a man handsome enough to make you forget your own name.

"Hi, I'm Julian." He says, and extends his hand to her.

"Jeanne" She says, after a brief memory lapse…and returns his hand shake.

"Mind if I join you?" He asks.

"No, not at all." She says, and moves her bag to give him room on the bench.

"Are you a teacher here?" She asks.

"Yeah, calculus…my first day."

"Mine too. Creative Writing."

"Well, I guess we can start our own young teachers lounge out here." He says with a smile, that makes the dimples in his cheek pop, and her heart skip a beat.

Jeanne and Julian talk for the next hour about how their first days are going, what made them both become teachers, how they both ended up in Mystic Falls.

Jeanne kept her story light, leaving out the real details of why she came to Mystic Falls.

Julian grew up here in Mystic Falls but moved away when he was old enough to join the military. Marines actually. Which is how he got that sexy scar above his eye.

Once lunch was over, they went their separate ways to finish out the day. Jeanne realized she hadn't even thought about Damon when she was talking to Julian. There was something oddly mesmerizing about him, and it wasn't just because of his looks.

The afternoon flew by, and before Jeanne knew it, the day was over. As she was getting her stuff ready to leave, Julian popped his head into her classroom.

"I hope this isn't too forward or anything, but would you maybe want to go out for dinner one night?"

Well that took her off guard.

Her first instinct was to say yes, but then she did think about Damon and she hesitated.

Not that she should, I mean…from the looks of things, it was pretty over between her and Damon, and a little dinner never hurt anybody…well, unless you get food poisoning, then that's an entirely different situation.

After a brief hesitation, Jeanne agreed. They exchanged phone numbers and he said he would call to make plans.

The pang of guilt Jeanne felt afterwards annoyed her. The whole thing with Damon had only been going on for a month, well in real life anyway. But so much happened in that month. And what if things aren't over between them? She can't deny the part of her that doesn't want them to be. That's why she's still so mad at him. Because she wants him to want her, and trying to force her to leave is not a way to show someone you want them.

Jeanne has to stop the ramble in her head. It's one date. It's not even a date, it's two co-workers eating food.

Jeanne shakes the thoughts from her head, and drives home.

She deliberately takes the route that makes her pass Damon's house. Stalking is an ugly word, she likes to think of it as satisfying a curiosity.

His car is in the driveway. She considers for a second going in to talk to him, but continues driving.

There's a reason why she's been avoiding him. She's still mad. She's not going to give him the satisfaction now.

But she did want to talk to him about her first day at the school. She was excited about it and she wanted to share it with someone, mainly him. But she doesn't.

The rest of the week goes by quickly. She's definitely into the groove of being a teacher. The students like her and she likes them.

Still no Damon. But, it's Friday night…and she has a date with Julian.

He offered to pick her up from home, but she decided to meet him there instead. The restaurant is only a few blocks away from her house and she didn't really want to risk anyone seeing Julian pick her up. And by anyone, she means Damon…or someone that would tell Damon.

Jeanne puts the finish touches on her make up, and adjusts her little black dress so she looks sexy, not slutty.

She grabs her purse and opens the door, and bumps into someone as she rushes out.

Damon looks down at her, confused…then suspicious.

"Where are you going dressed like that?" He asks

One look at him and she realizes, as good looking as Julian is…he's got nothing on Damon.

"To the library." She says sarcastically.

"Really? Well, children go to the library…you might want to put the girls away." He says, referring to her cleavage.

She furrows her eyebrows and pushes past him, locking the door behind her.

"Did you want something?" She asks when she turns back to him.

"I wanted to talk to you, but clearly you have plans."

She wants to cancel them. She wants to stay here with him, but she can't do that.

"Yes, I do have plans. We could talk some other time, but if it's going to be another list of reasons why I need to leave Mystic Falls, then you should know that it's not going to work. I like it here…and I'm not leaving." And with that, she turns to leave.

But not before he grabs her wrist, turning her around and kisses her. It was an impossible combination of gentle and rough, and it actually made her feel like electricity was coursing through her body.

When he pulled away, they stood there staring silently at each other.

The will power it took for her to release herself from his grip was something of a miracle.

Without another word, she turned and walked down the street.

Julian was waiting for her.


	18. Chapter 18

Damon watched Jeanne walk away.

She was meeting a guy. A girl does not wear a dress like that unless she's meeting a guy. Was she trying to make him jealous? Because if she was, it was working.

The devil and angel did a debate on his shoulders as he considered following her.

It wouldn't be right, and if he got caught he would be in deeper shit than he's already in. But who the fuck was she going out with? He knew basically everyone in this town, and basically everyone in this town knew to stay away from her. She belonged to him.

Though he would never let her hear that, with her whole 'I am woman hear me roar' routine.

But she did belong to him. And he still had a lot to protect her from.

He asked Stefan to hold off on the compulsion for just a few days. First to see if he could talk her out of it himself, which clearly isn't going to work.

But he was having second thoughts. He doesn't want her to leave and he doesn't want her to forget.

She did take the whole vampire bombshell a lot better than he ever would have expected, so maybe he could just tell her the truth. Then she'll understand why he asked her to leave in the first place.

Damon was still standing on Jeanne's porch so deep in his thoughts, that he didn't notice Katherine standing right in front of him.

"2614 Pine Brook Road with Damon Salvatore standing on the porch. Looks like I hit the jackpot." Katherine said, quite proud of herself.

"If you lay one boney finger on her, I will –"

"I know, I know…you'll rip my heart out, throw me in a cage of lion's blah blah blah." Katherine cut him off. "I have no intentions on doing anything to her. She actually seems sweet, we chatted one day outside of your house. She thinks I was Elena, but whatever…that's not important. I don't want to hurt her Damon, I just wanted to know who she was. More importantly, I wanted you to know that I knew she was. As a matter of fact, I just saw her walking into the steakhouse with an incredibly handsome man, the girls got good taste in men I will say that."

Damon's eyes narrowed and he tried with every fiber of his being not to lose his shit.

"Who?"

"Who what?" Katherine said, being intentionally annoying.

"Who was she with?" He asked through gritting teeth.

"I don't know who he is, never saw him before…but I would not mind seeing him again, if you know what I mean." She said with an over exaggerated elbow into Damon's arm.

If Katherine had seen it coming, she would have at least attempted to block it…but Damon was long gone by the time she was able to get herself out of the bushes that were a good 100 feet away from where they were just standing seconds ago.

Damon was outside the restaurant in record time, but just as he was about to enter…he hesitated.

What exactly was he going to do anyway? Rip the guys throat out? Throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of the restaurant? If he's learned anything about Jeanne whatsoever, this probably wouldn't be a good approach.

But not knowing who she was having dinner with just wasn't something he could leave alone.

So, he listened…

"New York is great, I just felt like it was time for a change." Jeanne said, while she sipped a vodka/club. Not her usual date drink, but she needed something to calm the nerves that seemed to creep up after Damon kissed her outside the house.

"I know what you mean, that's how I felt about Mystic Falls. The second I turned 18, I had to get out…but then I started to miss home, so I came back. Seems like I did at the right time." Julian said flirtatiously.

Jeanne smiled, but kept thinking about Damon. So she ordered another drink.

"So I'm kind of surprised a girl like you hasn't been claimed already."

Jeanne laughed…"Claimed? I'm not a winning lottery ticket."

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you're smart, funny, sexy…girls like you don't come around too often."

Jeanne blushed, she never has and never will take a compliment well.

"Well, thank you…I guess I haven't met that guy just yet." Jeanne responded, although she was pretty certain she already had.

"Well, lucky for me then." Julian said, and from under the table rested his hand on Jeanne's exposed knee, making her instantly uncomfortable.

This was a bad idea. What the hell is she doing.

She came to Mystic Falls to start over, to get over the last guy that screwed her up and now she's having sex with a vampire, while going on a date with a horny calculus teacher? This is not sex and the city. As a matter of fact it was supposed to be celibacy in Mystic Falls.

"I'm sorry, will you excuse me for a minute? I'm just gonna run to the restroom." Jeanne said, and excused herself from the table. She didn't really have to go, but it was the only way she could think of to get his hand off her leg. Gropey little bastard.

When Jeanne returned to the table, there was a fresh vodka/club waiting for her. She told her self that her limit was 2, but a third really couldn't hurt.

Jeanne and Julian small talked for the rest of the evening. For some odd reason he kept probing about her dating life, if she was dating anyone from Mystic Falls, if there was someone back home, what she looks for in a guy. He was laying it on a little thick of her taste, and past relationships is definitely not a first date conversation.

So she kept quiet. She didn't mention Jake, and she certainly didn't mention Damon. Part of her was wondering if they knew each other. They were about the same age, both grew up here in Mystic Falls, and it is a small town.

Damon decided to stop listening when the douche bag asked about what she looks for in a guy. He didn't need to hear it, he already knew.

He didn't really learn much from listening in on their conversation. She never even said his name. His voice sounded so familiar though. He could swear he had met this person before, but he couldn't for the life of him place who it could be.

It didn't take him long to realize this guy wasn't a threat. The more he talked, the less interested she sounded. Like she was thinking about something else.

Damon decided to leave before he got caught, but he wasn't going home.

Julian seemed to get the hint about his over aggressiveness. For the remainder for the dinner, he was a perfect gentleman, which put him back on Jeanne's good side. Well that, and the 4 drinks that were beginning to impair her judgement…and motor skills.

As if expecting her to stumble, the second Jeanne stood up from her seat, Julian was on her side of the table, steadying her when her own feet couldn't.

"Oops!" She said, with a drunken giggle, as he escorted her out of the restaurant.

'Like shooting fish in a barrel' Julian thought to himself, as he realized taking advantage of her would require minimal effort on his part.

Once outside the restaurant, Jeanne began to say her goodbyes…expecting they would go their separate ways just as the did when they arrived, but Julian was not having it.

"Jeanne, there is no way I'm letting you walk home. It's late, and you've been drinking."

"Oh stop it, it's like three blocks, and besides…I'm not drunk." She said with a slight slur, and as she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek, her ankle gave way once again and only his fast reflexes prevented her from hitting the pavement.

Realizing she was drunker than she was giving herself credit for, she walked with him to his car without another word.

"For the record, I don't usually get drunk on first dates." She said, feeling the need to defend herself.

Julian laughed. "How about second dates?"

Jeanne smiled, but said nothing. She wasn't sure there would be a second date.

When Julian pulled up out front of Jeanne's house, it never occurred to her that he knew which house it was without her telling him. Had she been sober however, she would have noticed immediately.

To Jeanne's surprise, Julian got out of the car and walked around to open her door.

"You don't have to walk me in, I think I can make it the 50 feet on my own."

"Well, you're wearing 5 inch heels, and considering your track record the last 20 minutes…I wouldn't put money on it." Julian said jokingly and walked with Jeanne to her front door.

"Thank you for dinner, I had a nice time." Jeanne said awkwardly. She always hated this part of dates.

Julian smiled down at her and brushed her hair away from her neck, revealing the puncture wound that was not yet healed.

He stared down at it, his own mouth watering at the thought of re-opening the wound. But he controlled himself.

Instead he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

She didn't stop him. She considered it. She knew she should…but she didn't.

When he pulled away, he stared deep into her eyes.

"Invite me in."

It wasn't a question. It was a command he expected her to obey.

"Uh, no. I'm sorry…I just don't think that's a good idea." Jeanne said apologetically.

So she was given vervain. That threw a wrench into his plans.

Unfortunately Julian was limited on time. There was only so long he could be in town without being seen by Damon. And Julian had planned this for far too long to allow anything to go wrong. Damon would know Julian was back only when Julian was ready and not a second sooner.

But he wasn't going to do anything alarming tonight. Jeanne may be drunk, but without compulsion…he wouldn't be able to do what he really came for.

So it would have to wait.

"So things are over between you and Tyra's cousin I assume?" Alaric asked while drinking a beer.

"Why is that your assumption?" Damon asked, while drinking whiskey.

"Because she went on a date with the new calculus teacher…did you not know that?" Alaric asked, only half serious.

"The guy is a teacher? Makes sense…he sounded like a total douche."

"Ok, first off…you're a dick. Second of all, what do you mean he sounded like a douche?" Alaric asked, long past taking offense to anything Damon says.

"I sort of hung out outside the restaurant they were in and listened to their conversation. But not all of it, just like 20 minutes."

"Oh, well if it was only 20 minutes then you did nothing wrong." Alaric responded sarcastically.

"So the guy is new to town?"

"Yeah, he was in the marines or something. Came back over the summer and landed a job."

"What's his name?" Damon asked, realizing this was how he was going to get his intel.

"Julian Grayson."

"Sounds like he has a small dick." Damon said as he threw back the remaining whiskey in his glass, then left without another word.

It didn't take long for Jeanne to fall asleep. Actually, it took longer for her to figure out how to get her dress off.

Vodka is a bitch.

But Jeanne wasn't sleeping for long before her peacefulness was interrupted.

"So, how was your date?" Damon asked as laid next to her in bed, his arms crossed behind his head.

Jeanne woke in an instant.

"How did you get in here?"

"Well, I didn't get in here." He said, motioning to their surroundings. "I'm in here" he said, and tapped on her head.

Jeanne's threw her head back into the pillow once the pounding started.

Damon was amused…"You're drunk."

"I'm not drunk" She said grumpily.

"So, Julian Grayson…a calculus teacher. Really?"

Realizing that she had no choice but to acknowledge Damon, Jeanne sat up.

"How did you know that?"

"I know everything. So…how was it?"

"What do you give a shit? You want me to leave town, remember? And stop hijacking my dreams! You can't try to get rid of me one second, then show up at my house when I'm about to go on a date and kiss me the way you did and make me all confused again. It's not fair you know. And just because I tell you to get out of my house does not mean the invitation in my dreams still stands."

Jeanne didn't even realize that a tear slid down her cheek in the middle of her speech, but Damon saw it.

It was then that Damon realized tonight wasn't the night to tell her everything. He's given her too much to deal with already, the rest can wait another day.

"I'm sorry." Damon said, and it was genuine…which is a rare occurrence for him.

"I'll leave if you want me to." He said, hoping that wasn't what she wanted…and it wasn't.

"I don't want you to. But can you get out of here." She motioned to her head…"And be with me here." She motioned to their surroundings.

And as soon as she said that, Jeanne woke up to her doorbell ringing.

She went downstairs and opened the door to see Damon standing on the other side.

Jeanne's smile was tired, but warm. "Come in."

She took Damon's hand and lead him back upstairs to her bedroom where she spent the next 8 hours asleep in his arms, and it felt perfect.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hope you're still enjoying the story. Big things are coming soon. Please review! **

When Jeanne woke up the next morning, once again, Damon was not next to her.

She sat up in bed feeling her disappointment rise, assuming he picked up and left without out a word, just like he did the last time.

She groggily threw on her robe, and headed downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee, but when she entered her kitchen, there he was. Shirtless, in a batter covered kitchen with a pot of coffee brewing behind him.

The smile that appeared on her face was like a child's seeing presents under the Christmas tree.

"Sorry about the mess, I don't cook often." Damon said sheepishly.

Damon could have set the whole damn kitchen on fire and it wouldn't have mattered, seeing him there, making her breakfast was more than enough to make her happy.

Jeanne walked over and kissed him with a passion she's never even come close to feeling with anyone else, not even Jake.

"Morning sex?" He asked, with a mischievous grin, and it was if he read Jeanne's mind, because as good as the pancakes looked, he looked way better.

Jeanne led Damon back upstairs to the bedroom, and for the next hour, she did all the work…and I mean ALL the work.

He tried to return the favor, but she wasn't having it. And to Damon, that made her even more irresistible.

Once they were both completely exhausted, they laid there quietly, Jeanne resting her head on his stomach. Finally, she broke the silence.

"When you asked me to leave, you kept saying that it was dangerous for me to be here. What did you mean?" She asked, as she stared up at the ceiling.

Damon sighed, he had to tell her now.

"Our lives are linked together." He said, blatantly.

Jeanne sat up and looked at him, clearly not following.

"And that means what exactly?"

"I actually don't really know." Damon said honestly. "When we met in New Orleans, I was able to compel you to make you forget about me. But when we saw each other again at Elena's house for the first time, I couldn't compel you. I asked around and the only way a human would be immune to a vampires compulsion is if their lives are linked. Which apparently, we are." Damon said, still not believing the words as they left his mouth.

"That doesn't make any sense." She responded.

"I know it doesn't, but it also doesn't make any sense that I wasn't able to compel you."

"So how come it worked in New Orleans. If our lives are linked…" Jeanne said with air quotes when she said the word 'linked', implying she doesn't believe it…"then how would you have been able to do it then, but not now?"

"Well, in New Orleans, you became hysterical. When you realized we had sex, you sort of freaked out. Plus you were still taking your pain pills, apparently you were emotionally unguarded and it worked…honestly Jeanne, I don't know…I don't get it myself, but this is what I'm being told."

Jeanne became silent, deep in thought about something.

After a few minutes, she looked up at Damon and it was as if a truck just slammed into her. Why the memories came back to her at that exact instant, she'll never be able to understand, but she remembers…everything.

"We met at a bar on Bourbon Street, the place with a mechanical bull. You asked me if I wanted to go on it, but I said I couldn't because of my shoulder. Then there was a fight in the bar, I almost got hit in the head with a glass…but you grabbed me before it hit me. I wanted to leave but my friends were dancing with those Navy guys, so you insisted on walking me home because you said no respectable girl walks home that late by herself…"

Damon listened to Jeanne carefully, she was right…about all of it.

"…When we got to the hotel I asked you to come upstairs. You said no at first, you said that I was drunk and you didn't want me to do something I would regret. So we said goodbye, but then you came back just as I was about to get into the elevator. Then we had sex, and in the morning I did regret it. So you told me to forget I ever met you…and you left. And I did forget it, I told my friends that I took a cab back to the hotel and went to bed, alone. Why am I remembering all of this now? Why did I not remember it then? And the dreams, I never remembered you from the dreams either."

Damon didn't have an answer for her. He was dumbfounded.

"The compulsion never worked." He finally said, sharing Jeanne's confusion.

"But it did work, I didn't remember you then. Not when I saw you in the dreams, not when I saw you at Elena's house, I'm remembering it now…why am I remembering it now?"

At this point, Damon realized he needed to find out more about this. He couldn't take Katherine's word on anything. Even she didn't seem convincing when she was explaining everything to him. He had to go to someone else, someone who knew exactly why this was happening.

Damon got out of bed and started to get dressed.

"Where are you going?" Jeanne asked, thinking now is not a good time to up and leave.

"I have to go see someone. I'll have more answers for you soon." And with that, he kissed her and left, leaving Jeanne confused and annoyed.

* * *

Damon was pretty sure he knew where to find her. If Martina was anything, she was a creature of habit. So he got in his car and headed for Salem, Massachusetts. A witch living in Salem was ironic to say the least. She had set up a psychic shop in Salem sucking in all the tourists looking for something spooky, and she did quite well. After all, her own mother was apart of the Salem Witch Trials, so it seemed only right that Martina would stick around.

Damon could have just called, after all the drive would be a good 10 hours to get to her. But Martina was never Damon's biggest fan. Damon was a bit of a dick back when they used to know each other. If he wanted real answers, he had to see her face to face.

In reality it took Damon about 5 hours to get there. He did get pulled over 4 separate times for driving 120 mph, and each time he compelled the cop to let him go, which they all did.

It was a Saturday night in September, Salem was usually crawling with tourists at this time, which meant Martina would be at her shop, so that's where Damon went.

He did have to give Martina credit. She wasn't running one of these cheesy psychic hotline looking places with a neon sign and a crystal ball in the window. The second he walked in, it was like the air around him was changing, there was a charge to it. Damon looked around at the items she was selling. Books on the occult, oils and incense, candles, and divination stones. Damon was actually thumbing through a book about dark magic when he felt Martina behind him.

"Well you are the last person I ever expected to see again." She said coolly.

Martina was technically 103 years old, but looked no older than 35. Those damn witches really got a handle on defying age.

"That makes two of us, trust me. But, I need your help." Damon said, hoping she wasn't still bitter about their past.

Martina smiled. "And why should I help you?"

"Look, Martina I know we've been through a lot, but I'm different now. I'm not the same person you knew back then. I understand if you don't want to help me, but I can't think of anyone else who can."

Martina studied him. He was telling the truth, that much she knew. And she always did like Damon better than Jesse, even though Damon was the more reckless of the two. It's sort of like when a child behaves badly, but gets away with it because he's so damn cute…that's how Martina always looked at Damon.

"It's about the girl…the one you're linked to?" Martina asked, taking Damon completely off guard.

"How did you know that?" He asked.

But she didn't answer the question. "What do you want to know?"

And so Damon told her everything, even about the dreams. He told her how he was able to compel her then but not now, he told her how Jeanne remembered everything out of absolutely nowhere. He left no detail out.

"I asked Katherine about it and she told me I was able to compel her the first time because she was emotional, but that doesn't explain how she remembered everything out of nowhere." Damon finished.

Martina rolled her eyes. "Why on Earth anyone still listens to Katherine is a mystery to me, the girl is an idiot."

Martina got up and went to the front of her shop where she turned the lights out, signifying she was not open for business, then returned to Damon.

"So, I'm not linked to her?" Damon asked.

"Oh no, you are definitely linked to her, which by the way in all my life it is the first time I have heard of a vampire being linked to a human. The reason you were able to compel her in New Orleans has nothing to do with her emotional state, it's because you weren't in love with her then. Apparently your late night visits over the past year gave you more than just sex. When you saw her again in Mystic Falls, you were already in love with her…your compulsion wouldn't have worked."

Damon actually could understand that, his feelings were growing for her each night he went to see her.

"Ok, but then what about her? Why did the memories come back to her out of nowhere?"

"Because she's in love with you." Martina said nonchalantly, and Damon actually felt his chest tighten.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know how much clearer I can put it…the girl is in love with you. The moment that happened, all of the memories came back to her. Compulsion does not work when two links are in love. Clearly you were in love with her before she was in love with you, hence your compulsion not working on your end. When she fell in love with you, the memories flooded back."

Damon sat silently, processing all that Martina was saying.

"It's not a coincidence that we met, is it?" He continued.

Martina laughed. "No, far from it."

"So why then? Katherine said everyone has a link, but they usually never find each other. How did we find each other?"

"Well that much Katherine is right about, it's left up to fate for two links to cross paths, but that rarely happens. You and the girl were put in a position to meet each other."

"What put us in the position to meet each other?"

"No, it's not what…it's who."

"So who then?"

"Jesse Whitlock"

Damon felt ice running through his veins at the mention of that name.

He hadn't heard it in decades, and he hoped never to again.

"What does Jesse have to do with this?" Damon asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Jesse came to me about a year ago and asked me to locate you. When I did, your location showed up simultaneously in Mystic Falls and New York. The only way that would happen is it you had a human link, which I personally did not believe to be true. But after a little research, it turned out it was true. I told Jesse what he wanted to know, and he left. He never told me what he planned on doing with that information, but I'm fairly certain he somehow found out you were going to New Orleans and compelled the girl to do the same so you two would meet. What he plans on doing next, I couldn't tell you."

Damon's head was spinning. Here he was thinking all he had to worry about was Katherine when all the while Jesse is behind all of it. It really couldn't get much worse than that.

Martina felt a slight pang of guilt as she saw the expression on Damon's face at the sound of Jesse's name.

"Damon I'm sorry, I owed him a favor. I had to tell him." Martina said apologetically.

But as awful as this situation is, without Jesse…it seems Jeanne and Damon would have never met.

He knows Jesse has every right to hate him, and Jesse has every right to destroy Damon. But Damon was a much different person back then, not a day passes where he doesn't regret that night.

But as much as Jesse has every right to seek revenge, Damon will not let him near Jeanne.

Finally Martina breaks the silence. "You know Damon, there's something else you should know."

Damon actually laughed when she said that as if anything could make this worse.

"And what's that?" He asked.

"If one of you die…so does the other."

"Yep, I heard that little gem of information already. I have to get back home, thank you Martina for helping me. I really appreciate it."

"You take care of yourself…and the girl." She says.

"Her name is Jeanne, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."


	20. Chapter 20

Jeanne hadn't heard from Damon since he left, which was about 6 hours ago. The longer time had passed, the more pissed off at him she was getting. She was hoping though that when she did hear from him, he would have a logical explanation for all that had been going on. And if he didn't, she was going to give him hell.

Jeanne had just settled onto the couch, getting ready to watch whatever horror movie was on the Sci Fi channel, when a visitor at her front door interrupted.

When she opened it, Elena was there.

Jeanne immediately panicked when she saw her, thinking something happened to Damon. "What's wrong, is Damon ok?" Jeanne asked frantically, taking Elena off guard.

"Nothing's wrong, Damon is fine…I just wanted to ask you for a favor?" Elena said with her usual charm.

Jeanne felt herself let out a breath, then refocused. "Oh ok, what's up?"

"Well, tonight is the back to school party at the Falls. It's sort of an unofficial party that the school pretends to not know about as long as we have some adults to chaperone. We were wondering if you would be able to? I know it's last minute, but some of the other adults backed out and now were short on chaperones. If we don't have at least 5, they'll shut the party down." Elena explained.

Jeanne really didn't feel like it, plus she was anxiously waiting for Damon to get back from wherever the hell he went. But Elena is hard to say no to. Besides, sitting alone waiting for him will just mess with her nerves and that was the last thing she needed.

Jeanne sighed. "Fine, give me a minute to get dressed."

Elena came in and sat on the couch as she waited.

Elena noticed Damon's leather jacket hung on one of the dining room chairs that he must have forgotten.

"So, how are things between you and Damon? He hasn't really said much to Stefan or me." Elena said once Jeanne returned.

Jeanne felt a slight smile cross her face at the mention of his name. Then she blushed, hoping Elena didn't notice.

"Um, things are good…I guess. It's still a lot to take in all at once, but I'm trying" Jeanne said as she pulled on her boots.

"If anyone knows how you're feeling, it's me. A couple of years ago, I considered a Magic 8 Ball to be supernatural…now there's so much I could have never dreamed existed. And I know you've probably heard some bad things about Damon, many of which are true." Elena said with a laugh…"But he's different when it comes to you. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I've seen Damon with women, and I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. And when he heard you went out with Mr. Grayson, he did not take that well…and he is not the jealous type"

Jeanne didn't know how to respond to that. She wanted to believe Elena, mostly because she felt the same exact way towards Damon. She never felt like this before, and before coming to Mystic Falls, she was starting to think that she never would. But she also didn't want to get hurt. And the harder you fall for someone, the easier it is for them to hurt you.

"Yeah, going out with Julian was a mistake, but I think Damon has forgiven me." Jeanne said with a laugh, and grabbed her coat. "Let's go."

And so Jeanne and Elena went to the Falls.

When Damon finally arrived back in Mystic Falls, it was around 10pm. He went straight to Jeanne's house expecting her to be there, but she wasn't.

After searching every room, he took out his cell phone and called her…but no answer.

Considering all that he had just learned, and realizing that Jesse could already be in Mystic Falls, not being able to get in touch with Jeanne was the last thing he needed.

Damon jumped back in his car and drove to the Grill. It was a Saturday night, which meant the Grill should be crawling with people. When Damon walked inside, he was taken back by how not crowded it was.

Now he was confused.

He spotted Matt on the far end of the bar.

"Uh where are all the people?" Damon asked as Matt wiped the bar down.

"It's the first Saturday night of the school year…" Matt said, expecting Damon to follow…but he didn't.

'Ok…and what does that mean?"

"It's the back to school party at the Falls." And as he said that he looked down at his watch, which just struck 10. "And that's where I'm going." He said as he pulled off his apron and punched out his time card.

"Hey, are you heading over there? I could use a ride." Matt asked.

"Do you know if Jeanne is there?"

"Hot teacher chick? No idea." And the second the words left Matt's mouth, Damon slapped him on the back of the head.

"Her name is Ms. Cardella." Damon corrected him.

"Someone's hot for teacher." Matt teased as he walked over to Damon's car, which earned him another slap.

When Jeanne and Elena arrived at the Falls, it was crawling with Mystic Falls students. A couple hundred at least. Jeanne spotted Alaric standing off to the side of the bon fire and went over to join him.

"So you got roped into chaperone duty I see." He said.

"I did, it was hard to pretend I had plans when I was in my pajamas waiting for my popcorn to finish popping."

Alaric and Jeanne talked for a bit about the school, the kids, Damon came up once or twice.

"Is this where the cool kids hang out?" Jeanne heard a voice say from behind her and turned to see Julian approaching.

Alaric became instantly suspicious. Especially knowing Damon's feelings towards Jeanne and Julian having dinner the night before.

"Mr. Grayson…glad you could make it." Alaric said with an extended hand.

"Please call me Julian, every time one of the kids call me Mr. Grayson I expect to see my father." Julian said with a laugh.

"Well, if you'll excuse me…I'm gonna go make sure no one is having sex in the woods." And with that Alaric left, leaving Julian and Jeanne alone.

"Sounds like a good idea." Julian said, confusing Jeanne.

"What sounds like a good idea?" She asked.

"Having sex in the woods." Julian replied with a flirtatious smile.

Jeanne laughed, but not because she thought it was funny…but because she thought he was an idiot.

"Hey Jeanne, Mr. Grayson." Stefan said as he approached the two of them.

Jeanne fully welcomed the interruption.

"Hey Stefan, are you having a good time?" Jeanne asked.

"Yeah, it's a good party…hey have you spoken to my brother, Damon?" Stefan said intentionally, trying to make sure Julian got the hint.

Julian's ears perked up at the sound of Damon's name.

"No, I was with him this morning then he said he had to go somewhere. I haven't heard from him since."

"Oh, ok well when you talk to him can you tell him to call me?" Stefan said with a smile, then walked away.

"Is he referring to Damon Salvatore?" Julian asked, once Stefan was gone.

"Yeah, Damon is Stefan's older brother. Do you know him?" Jeanne asked.

"No, not personally. I've heard about him. Are the two of you together?" Julian asked, making Jeanne instantly uncomfortable.

"You know we probably should be paying more attention to the kids, we are the chaperones after all." Jeanne said with a nervous laugh and turned to walk away, but Julian grabbed her hand, turning her back around.

"Are you dating him?" He asked again, his face changing from friendly to angry.

"First of all, get your hands off of me." Jeanne said, yanking her arm away. "Second of all, I don't owe you any explanations and if you touch me again, I will break a bottle over your head." Jeanne said through gritted teeth.

Julian smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." He said, and walked away, leaving Jeanne shaken.

Matt and Damon parted ways as soon as they arrived. Matt headed for the nearest keg, while Damon went looking for Jeanne.

Damon spotted Alaric first.

"Hey, have you seen Jeanne here?" He asked, not looking for small talk.

"Yeah, she was talking to the calculus teacher." Alaric said, knowing that would get a rise out of him.

"This prick is starting to work my last nerve." Damon said, and walked off in the direction Alaric pointed.

Damon spotted Jeanne a couple of minutes later and made a bee line right for her, avoiding the high school girls that kept throwing themselves in his path.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked, instantly sensing Jeanne was upset about something.

"Finally! Where the hell have you been?" Jeanne asked, relieved to see him.

"I went to Massachusetts."

"Massachusetts? That's like a 10 hour drive each way." Jeanne said.

"Only if you drive the speed limit."

"Why did you go to Massachusetts?" She asked, completely confused.

"Because the one person that could make sense of everything was in Massachusetts."

"Have you ever heard of a telephone, email, facebook?" Jeanne asked sarcastically.

"She wouldn't have taken my calls…the good news is, she did give me answers."

Jeanne looked at him expectantly, waiting to hear these so called answers.

"Not here, we'll talk about it later. Why are you upset?" He asked again.

"I'm not upset." She lied.

Damon came in closer to her and whispered in her ear. "I drank your blood, I know when you're upset."

"It's nothing. Someone just said something that pissed me off, that's all."

Damon didn't really have a chance to probe any more than that when Stefan came up to them.

"I need to talk to you." Stefan said to his brother…"Alone."

Jeanne quickly got the hint. "I'm gonna go walk around, I'll catch up with you in a bit." She said to the boys, then walked off.

"What's going on?" Damon asked, knowing something wasn't right.

"Come with me." Stefan said, and led Damon away from the party, further into the woods.

They walked silently for 3 or 4 minutes when they reached Bonnie and Caroline sitting with a girl who looked clearly disturbed, Tyler standing off to the side.

The girl was rambling to Bonnie, but her words were incoherent.

"What is she saying?" Damon finally asked.

"She was attacked. By a vampire." Bonnie said, as the girl continued to ramble.

Damon got closer and inspected the girl. "What are you talking about? She has no marks." Damon said, and though he didn't see any puncture wounds on her exposed neck, her shirt was covered in blood.

A few minutes earlier, Caroline and Tyler left the party to get some alone time in the woods. When they did, they stumbled upon a young girls lifeless body. Her neck was torn apart, she had no pulse.

Caroline immediately found Bonnie and brought her to the girl. Luckily, Bonnie had the Celontes with her, vowing never to be without it.

With the stone in one hand, and the other placed over the girls heart…Bonnie began her chant as Caroline and Tyler watched on. Within seconds the wound on the girls neck was healed and she was hyper ventilating, terrified.

Damon walked over to the girl and gently cupped her face in his hands. "You were not attacked. You fell in the woods and scraped your neck. Your shirt is covered in blood. You have to go home." He said in a hypnotic voice.

The girl snapped out of her trance and looked around at the people she barely knew, and couldn't understand why they were surrounding her.

"I'm so clumsy, I fell and got blood all over my shirt. I should get going. Thanks for helping me." The girl said, and walked off.

Damon knew what was happening. He knew who did this. And he had to find him before anyone else got hurt.


	21. Chapter 21

Damon left the group without another word, surprising them. They were all expecting some Damon Salvatore-ism, but he didn't give them one. Instead he turned and headed back for Jeanne.

Stefan quickened his pace and caught up to him. "Don't you think we should talk about this?" He asked, walking briskly next to his brother, ducking every now and then to avoid getting smacked in the face with a tree branch.

"Meet me home in an hour." He said, and immersed himself in the crowd, leaving Stefan with the impression that Damon knew exactly what was going on.

"Where's Jeanne?" Damon asked, unapologetically interrupting Elena and Matt's conversation.

"Last I saw her, she was over by the bridge. What's going on?" Elena asked, knowing far too well which of Damon's expressions implied something was very wrong.

He was already gone by the time she finished the question.

Damon rushed to the bridge, but all he found was a girl vomiting over the side while her friend held her hair back.

He sighed in frustration, then turned back in the direction of the party. Blocking out all of the background noise, he searched for her.

"I don't want an apology. Just stay away from me." He heard Jeanne say.

"I was completely out of line, I had no right to put my hands on you. I just thought we had a connection and I guess when I heard that you were dating Damon I got a little jealous, I really am sorry. I'll see you at school on Monday." Julian said, then got in his car and left.

Damon made his way to Jeanne in a matter of seconds. She was standing away from the crowd, where the cars were parked. Julian's tail lights could still be seen as they drove down the dirt road.

"He put his hands on you?" Damon asked from behind Jeanne, startling her.

"How did you hear that?"

"You know what, I'll deal with him later. Come on, we have to go." Damon said, and grabbed Jeanne's hand pulling her towards his car.

"Wait, I can't leave…I'm a chaperone."

"Yeah, well chaperone duty is being cut short." He said, still pulling her away from the party, but she planted her feet in the ground and stopped him.

"What's going on?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"I will explain everything to you once we're home. Do not make me carry you, because I will."

Jeanne may not have known Damon for very long, but it feels like she's known him forever. Under normal circumstances she would fight him on this, but she knew she shouldn't.

"My car is that way." She said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"That's nice." He said as he opened up the passenger side door of his car. "Get in." And after a brief hesitation, Jeanne obeyed.

"Just so we're clear, I don't usually follow orders." Jeanne said defiantly, once Damon got in the car, and that actually brought a smile to his face. Even considering all that was going on, she could still make him laugh.

"Well, I'm glad tonight you chose to be obedient."

A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of Jeanne's house.

Once inside, Jeanne looked at him, not sure what was supposed to happen next.

"Go pack up some things, you're staying with me for a few days." He said, and this time, Jeanne was not as flexible.

"What? Why? No I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Someone in Mystic Falls wants to kill me, and in order for him to do that…he's going to try to kill you. Go pack up your things." Damon responded in a tone that told Jeanne to do exactly what he says, so she did.

Damon wouldn't let Jeanne out of his sight for a second. If she went into the bathroom to get her toothbrush, he followed. If she went in the kitchen to get her phone charger, he followed.

He sat on her bed as she took out clothes from the closet and shoved them in a duffle bag.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." She muttered. "You know you're not going to be able to follow me when I go to work on Monday." She said, only half sarcastically.

"You're not going to work on Monday." He responded, matter of factly.

"Now you've really lost your mind. It's my second week…I'm not taking a day off on my second week!"

"I'll take care of it. Finish packing."

"Oh, you'll take care of it. What does that even mean?" She said and threw the shirt in her hand back on the bed instead of in the bag, starting to become angry.

"It means if I have to compel the whole God damn school in order to keep you safe, that's what I'm going to do." He said and picked up the shirt and put it in the bag.

Once Jeanne was finished, Damon took her bag and led her out of the house, making sure all doors were locked, then ushered her back into his car.

Two minutes later, Damon pulled his car into the circular driveway in front of the house. He turned the car off, but didn't make a move to get out just yet.

"I'm going to tell you everything and some of it may change the way you think of me. I just want you to know that I'll understand if that happens." Damon said, staring straight ahead.

This made a knot form in Jeanne's throat. Knowing what he is could very well mean that he's done things in his past that would terrify her. Part of her didn't want to know what those things were, but the other part of her knew she had to.

She didn't really respond, she didn't know how to. "Come on, let's go inside." She said softly.

Stefan was already home when they got there, waiting in the living room anxiously, surprised to see Jeanne, he looked at his brother.

"She has to hear this." Damon said, and led Jeanne into the living room.

Damon took a deep breath…then began.

He started with Jesse. Damon had never told Stefan much about Jesse. Back then Stefan and Damon had nothing to do with each other. Stefan was aware of the lifestyle that Damon lived and he strongly disagreed with it, so they each kept their distance from the other, happily.

When Damon started to tell them about December 18th, 1944, he found it hard to look at Jeanne. He didn't want to see her reaction when he told her what he had done to Beverly.

"I was so strung out on blood I don't think I knew my own name. She was walking alone, it was cold and late…no one was around. I pulled her into an alley and drained her. I killed her. I didn't know who it was, I never looked at her face. Just as I had finished, Jesse showed up. That's when I looked down at the body and realized what I had done. I should have let him kill me right there. I deserved it, but I fled. That was the last time Jesse and I saw each other. There was no doubt in my mind he was looking for me, but I kept a low profile, he never found me."

Jeanne was taking it all in. It was horrible what he did to that poor girl. Only something a monster would do. But he's not a monster, that much she knows. Maybe he was back then, but he's certainly not now. She wasn't going to let this change how she thinks of him. He's been nothing but protective and gentle with her. It wouldn't be fair to hold his past against him.

As if sensing Damon's concern for how Jeanne was taking all of this, she gently placed her hand over his. Assuring him that her feelings didn't change. He looked up at her, pain was in his eyes.

Stefan couldn't believe what he was hearing, and witnessing. It was very possible that he was having a harder time seeing his brothers complete change in character when around Jeanne, than Jeanne was accepting the fact that she was sitting in a room with two vampires.

"So you think Jesse is back in town then? You think he did that to the girl in the woods?" Stefan asked.

"What happened in the woods?" Jeanne asked, still not sure how any of this has to do with her.

Damon gave Jeanne the cliffnotes version of the attack, then went back on track.

"He's definitely in Mystic Falls. I went to see an old friend earlier today, a witch. Jesse and I knew her back then. Apparently about a year ago, Jesse went to her looking for me. When she located me, she found out about Jeanne, how I was linked to her. She told Jesse who she was. Jesse then compelled her and her friends to go to New Orleans, which is where Jeanne and I met. He set it all up so that we would meet each other. Then he must have somehow compelled someone here to offer her the job, making her move here so we would see each other again. I don't think he knows about the dreams, there's no way he would. Either way, he's here and if I know him as well as I think I do…he's going to go for Jeanne to get to me." Damon finally finished, leaving Jeanne's head spinning.

"Did you ask her about the memories? About the compulsion and why the memories came back to me out of no where?" Jeanne asked.

"Oh, yeah, that…" Damon said awkwardly, not planning on going into this part with his brother sitting right there. "Um, well I was able to compel you the first time because I wasn't in love with you. By the time we saw each other again at Ric's party…I already was, and so the compulsion didn't work." Damon said.

Of all ways for a guy to tell you they love you for the first time, this was definitely one Jeanne hadn't expected.

"Oh, ok…" She said uncomfortably. "And what about me, what about the memories."

Damon actually laughed this time, he couldn't believe how all of this was playing out. "Well, as it turns out…the moment you felt in love with me, the memories came back." Damon said.

Jeanne's face turned an embarrassing shade of red. Damon laughed again.

"Wow, this is awkward." Stefan said, lightheartedly…easing up the tension in the room.

Jeanne couldn't help but smile. She was mortified, but she was also in love…and people who are in love smile a lot.

"Ok, so what does this guy look like?" Stefan asked, getting back to business.

"It's been almost 70 years since I've seen him. He's about my height, dirty blonde hair, he has a scar above his eye, I think the left." And as Damon said that, Jeanne's body tensed, both Stefan and Damon noticed it.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked.

"Julian." She breathed, the name practically catching in her throat.

"The calculus teacher that you went to dinner with?" Damon asked, his body shaking that Jesse was so close her. And after a second or two of processing it, he now realized why his voice sounded so familiar.

"He told me he grew up here in Mystic Falls, that he joined the Marines when he was 18 and he just came back this summer."

"That's who you were talking to earlier, when he said I shouldn't have put my hands on you. What did he do to you?" Damon asked, practically foaming at the mouth he was so angry.

Jeanne explained what had happened after Stefan asked about Damon in front of Julian, who was now Jesse. Damon got up from the couch, he was pacing at this point. Murderous thoughts were racing through his head.

He had to get to Jesse before Jesse got to Jeanne.


	22. Chapter 22

**I know it's been a freakishly long time, but unfortunately I've had a lot going one that prevented me from focussing on writing. HOWEVER, I am back now...and if any of you are still with me, you rock :) Hope you enjoy the next chapter, more to come soon!**

At this point, Jeanne was quite certain that the last year of hear life has just been one giant dream, an Inception type of situation. She was more focused on how to wake herself up than she was anything Damon had just said.

Having dreams of a strange man only to meet him in real life a year later? Ok, she handled that one fairly well. Finding out that man is a vampire? Handled that one pretty damn well too. But finding out that not only is he a vampire, but has a vampire rival that's going to get his revenge on Damon by killing her? No, that's not something she's going to process right now.

After about 3 minutes of uncomfortable silence, she finally spoke up. "I'm hungry."

Damon and Stefan both looked at her as if they misunderstood what she just said.

"Do you have any people food? Or is it all O negative?" She asked.

"Did you hear anything I just said" Damon asked, irritated.

"Yes, I heard it. But I don't want to think about it right now. So where are we on the food situation?"

"Uh, I'll go see if I can find something for you." Stefan said, taking advantage of his opportunity to leave the room.

When he did, Jeanne stood up and walked over to a carafe of aged whiskey and poured herself a glass. "Want some?" She asked Damon.

"No, I don't want some. You do realize that we're in a pretty serious situation right now, right?" He asked, his frustration starting to rise.

"What I realize is that every fiber of my being is telling me to run as far away from you as my legs will take me, yet I'm still here. What I realize is that this is NOT what I came to Mystic Falls for, yet the idea of going back to New York makes my skin crawl. So yes Damon, I realize that we're in a pretty serious situation, but what I also realize is that I don't know what the fuck to do about it." Jeanne said, and slammed the glass so hard down onto the wooden table that it shattered, leaving her hand bloodied.

Damon's heart quickened at the sight of her blood, but his desire to take care of her was stronger than his desire for blood. Damon lead an injured and terrified Jeanne to the bathroom and gently washed the blood off her hand. He sat her down on the counter top and started to bandage her up.

"I'm sorry." She said through tears she was fighting to hold back. "I'm overwhelmed and a little freaked out to be honest." She said with a forced smile.

It was at this very moment that the priorities Damon held for the last century and a half changed.

He was no longer living, thinking and fighting for himself. He was living, thinking and fighting for her. For them.

And for the first time in his entire life, instead of looking for trouble…he considered running from it.

"We can leave." He said, looking into her tired eyes.

"And go where?" She laughed, knowing this wasn't something they could run from.

"We can go anywhere, I can take us anywhere you want to go. We don't have to deal with this, we can leave tonight."

It sounded good. It sounded perfect, actually. They could just leave and pick up somewhere else. She'll find another job teaching, Damon would be with her, and they would be safe. But Jeanne knew better than to ask him to do that.

Damon wasn't a runner. Jeanne knew that running away from Julian would probably go against everything Damon believed in, and she couldn't let him do that, despite how much she wanted to.

"How about this, you kill Julian…or Jesse, whatever the hell his name is…and then you can take me to Italy." She said with a mixture of fear and determination.

"You know I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, right?" He asked.

She nodded. "I know."

He kissed her softly, then lifted her off the counter top.

They walked back out into the sitting room where Stefan was returning from the kitchen.

"So, I tried to make you a grilled cheese sandwich but um…this happened." He said and held up a plate holding something that looked like the charred remains of a campfire.

Jeanne couldn't help but laugh, which actually felt good. "I appreciate the effort, but I think I'm just gonna go to bed." She said as her finger gently circled the inside of Damon's palm, trying to send the message that she wasn't ready for sleep just yet.

Damon faked a yawn. "Yeah, pretty tired. Definitely time for bed." He said and pulled Jeanne towards the stairs.

"Wow guys, really? That's not obvious at all." Stefan said sarcastically as they hurried up the stairs.

The moment the bedroom door was shut behind them, Damon had Jeanne backed against it. "Be gentle, I'm injured." She said flirtatiously while holding up her bandaged hand.

" This time it's my turn to do all the work." Damon said, and that's exactly what he did.

For the next hour, Jeanne was able to forget how fucked up the world outside Damon's bedroom actually was. He made her feel sexy, and delicate. There were times where he touched her so gently it was if he were scared he would break her. And other times where he was rough and exciting and it made her beg him for more.

Unfortunately though, life can't be a series of endless orgasms. Eventually, reality had to sink back in, and when it did, her anxiety came back with it.

"So, what are we going to do?" She asked as she stared up at the ceiling with her head on his bare chest.

"We aren't going to do anything. And I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet." He answered.

"What if I talked to him? Like talk some sense into him…explain to him that you're not the same person you were back then." Jeanne said innocently, believing that there's nothing that can't be fixed by good old friendly conversation.

Damon sat up quickly and Jeanne slid off of his chest not having enough notice to sit up on her own.

He turned her face to his and forced her to look into his eyes.

"You will stay away from him. Do not even attempt to get involved with this. He will kill you, and you cannot protect yourself. Promise me you'll stay out of this."

"I promise." She mumbled.

"That didn't sound convincing."

"I promise Damon." She said more clearly, though she wasn't entirely sure if she meant it.

Ok, his sleaziness did make her skin crawl a little bit. But other than that, he didn't seem that terrible. He was in love once. And if he's been seeking vengeance for almost 70 years, then he must remember that love well. Maybe she could talk to him. Maybe everyone's over reacting. Yeah, maybe…

"But I will see him at work on Monday…" She said.

"I told you already, you're not going." He responded with conviction.

"Damon, you can't be serious. I can't work one week and take a day off. I'll get fired. I can't afford to get fired, I have to go to work!"

"What are they paying you a year? $50,000? I'll write you a God damn check for that right now. You're not going. You won't get fired, I'll take care of it."

Jeanne was starting to hate the phrase 'I'll take care of it', but she kept quiet, returning her head back to his chest, falling asleep minutes later.

When she woke up the next morning, once again, Damon was not in the bed next to her. She was starting to think he would never be there when she woke up. She heard the water running and saw this his wallet and cell phone where still on the night stand, he must be in the shower.

She rolled over, about to go back to sleep when she thought of something.

The witch he went to see, Martina.

Jeanne quickly grabbed Damon's cell phone and scrolled down until she got to M, and there she was. Hoping it was the same Martina, she put the number in her own cell phone, then returned his back to the nightstand, and laid back down looking as non-suspicious as possible.

Damon came in about 5 minutes later wrapped in a towel, and still dripping wet. Apparently he's not aware that the towel is supposed to be used for drying, not just looking good.

"So I have to run out for about an hour. Don't leave this house. There's a library downstairs, TV with every channel you can imagine. If you're hungry, order something. I don't want you so much as going outside to get the newspaper on the door step." Damon said in a demanding tone that she didn't appreciate too much. But she didn't argue, she just smiled and nodded.

"Do you want me to get you anything while I'm out?" He asked as he got dressed.

"Tampons?"

The look of disgust on his face was exactly what she was looking for. "You're kidding, right?" He asked, with an audible amount of fear.

"Yes, I'm kidding. But if I'm going to be held prisoner, I might as well have a little fun with it."

He reached over her to grab his cell phone and wallet from the night stand and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll be back soon." And with that, he left the room, leaving Jeanne anxiously waiting to hear the front door shut so she can make her phone call.

10 seconds later, when she was sure Damon had left the house, she grabbed her phone and dialed.

"Salem Divinations, how may I help you?" A friendly voice asked.

"May I speak to Martina please?"

"Speaking, who's calling?"

"My name is Jeanne, I was—" Jeanne began, but she was cut off.

"The human girl Damon is linked to." Martina said, interrupting her.

"Uh, yeah…I guess so." Jeanne responded, a little taken back at how quickly Martina knew that.

"You're calling because you want to know what you can do to help." Martina said, not in question form.

"Well, yes actually."

"Nothing." Martina responded matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean nothing?" Jeanne asked, not wanting to hear that.

"If you're calling me, it means Damon explained the situation to you. You are a human, Julian is a vicious and careless vampire. You have no protection against him, and as you already know, if you die, so does Damon. So by all means keep yourself out of harms way and let Damon handle this on his own. You will be nothing but a distraction."

All Jeanne heard was 'if you die, so does Damon.'

"I'm sorry…what did you say? If I did, so does Damon. What does that mean?"

Martina paused. He didn't tell her.

"Did Damon not mention that to you?" She asked.

"Um, no?"

"Did he explain what it means to be linked?"

Now that Jeanne thought about it, no he didn't really explain what it meant.

"Well, no…not really." Jeanne said sheepishly.

Martina began…"Basically, everyone in the world is linked to someone else. In a very, very rare situation, those 2 links will cross paths. In an even rarer situation, they will fall in love. When a link dies, whether it be from natural, or supernatural causes…their link dies along with them. It's basically the circle of life." Martina explained.

"Um, no…the circle of life has to do with a baby lion named Simba and his journey to becoming king." Jeanne said, almost mindlessly as she thought about what Martina just said. Martina actually laughed.

Why didn't Damon tell her this?

"So, there's nothing I can do?" Jeanne asked one final time, feeling defeated.

Martina hesitated, then against her better judgment, she told Jeanne what to do. "Find Bonnie Bennett. Tell her to put a suspension spell on you."

"What will that do? Wait, Bonnie is a witch?" Jeanne asked, coming to realize there is so much she doesn't know.

"Yes, Bonnie is a witch. If you were to die by the hands of a supernatural being, a suspension spell will delay Damon's death. Sometimes by an hour, sometimes by a day…it's fickle like that. In that time between your death and Damon's, he must use that time to find who killed you, and kill them in return. If he is able to do that, you will be brought back to life. If he fails…" Martina didn't finish the sentence, it basically spoke for itself.

Jeanne knew what she had to do. Despite how many times Damon and Martina told her to just stay out of it, she couldn't just sit by and hope for the best.

She was going to let Jesse kill her.


	23. Chapter 23

Jeanne wasn't used to being the frail, helpless, hope for the best type. She found herself in that position after the accident, and she promised herself she would never be that girl again.

In reality, her plan wasn't the smartest plan. Actually, it wasn't smart it all. But it was better than nothing, and she was determined to do something.

Jeanne understood that staying out of it and hoping Damon got to Jesse before Jesse could get to Damon was probably for the best. But what if Damon didn't get to him first? Or, what if he did but Jesse came out on top? Where would that leave she and Damon? Dead.

So, if she had Bonnie perform the suspension spell on her, that would at least keep Damon safe for some period of time after Jesse killed her. Then, Jesse would be off guard. He would assume Damon died too. He wouldn't expect Damon to be coming for him, and that would give Damon the upper hand in ending this nightmare once and for all.

Problem is, she couldn't tell Damon what she planned on doing. He would probably chain her up (and not in a good way).

But she would have to make sure he knew what he had to do, and how little time he had to do it.

Jeanne was so deep in thought, she didn't even hear Damon re-enter the room. Had an hour passed already?

"If I'm not mistaken, I think you have to squeeze a lump of coal to get a diamond, not an iPhone." Damon said, referring to how white her knuckles had turned by the death grip she had on her phone.

She quickly let go of it and focused half of her attention on him, while the other half was focused on how to execute her master plan.

"Get everything you need at the store?" She asked.

"Yeah, I picked up some food and movies for you so you don't die of starvation and/or boredom." He said with a smile as he joined her on the bed.

"About that, I know you don't want me leaving the house and I get it, but my cousin invited me over for a girls night tonight, and I haven't really seen her at all since the day we got into that fight at my house, so I'd really like to go." Jeanne said. Damon's mood visibly changed by the end of her sentence.

"Jeanne it's really not a good idea. I need you to stay here so I know that you're safe. I can't be focused whether or not your safe while all of this shit is going on."

"I will call you every hour." Jeanne said, like a teenager asking to stay out past curfew.

"A lot of shit can happen in an hour." He replied.

"Damon I can't be Rapunzel locked in a tower. I'll be at her house, I won't go out and you can pick me up when I'm ready to go home."

Damon hated the idea, but he too realized he couldn't treat her like a prisoner.

"Fine, but listen to me. You do not invite anyone into that house. And I'm not just talking about Jesse. No one gets invited in. I don't know if he's working alone or if there are others. You walk in the house, no one unfamiliar comes in, and you stay there until I pick you up." He said, wishing he could take the words back as soon as they left his lips.

"Agreed." She said with a smile, then picked herself up off the bed. "I'm gonna take a shower, be out in a bit."

"Can I come?" He asked playfully as he got up to follow her.

"Not this time cowboy." She said with a smirk, then disappeared behind the bathroom door.

She pulled her cell phone out from where she was concealing it underneath her shirt and dialed Elena.

"Hey Elena, sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you could give me Bonnie's number? I have to talk to her about her historical fiction assignment."

"Not a problem, I just texted it to you. How are you doing? I heard you're going to be staying at the house for a bit."

"Yeah, just for a few days until everything blows over."

"Ok, well if you need anything else, just let me know." Elena offered.

"I will, thanks" And with that Jeanne hung up the phone and began to dial Bonnie.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bonnie, this is Ms. Cardella…" Jeanne said, then realized considering what she was about to ask, she probably should be more casual. "I mean Jeanne.."

"Oh hi, what's up?" Bonnie replied, instantly knowing this wasn't a school related phone call.

"I wanted to know if you could meet me somewhere tonight? I need to talk to you" Jeanne asked.

"Um, sure…is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just need some help with something, and I was told that you're the person I should see. It has to be a secret though. No one can know that I'm coming to meet you, not even Elena. If she tells Stefan and it gets back to Damon, then I'm screwed."

Bonnie could sense the urgency in Jeanne's voice, and knew that at least for now until she finds out what Jeanne wants, she will keep it a secret.

"Ok, um…how about meet me at the falls near the bridge at 9. It's a Sunday night, no one should be over there."

"Ok, that's perfect…and thank you." Jeanne hung up the phone and momentarily second guessed what she was planning on doing. It wasn't until just now that she realized that the main component of her plan was that she was going to die. She was going to allow someone to kill her. She never considered herself the suicidal type, but this was a pretty suicidal move she was making. What if it didn't work?

Jeanne couldn't afford to think like that. She quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind when she realized it was the only thing she can do.

She took a shower and let the hot water wash away any doubt she had.

The next few hours seemed to drag on endlessly. She watched TV, challenged everyone she ever met in a Words with Friends game, she searched through Damon's closet, which was basically just a sea of black, she even straightened up his shoes so they were in a perfect line. She was slowly losing her mind.

Finally when the clock struck 8:30 she got ready to go. She hoped Damon wouldn't insist on driving her, but she knew better than to rely too much on that. Once he saw her put her coat on, he pulled out his keys.

Once in the car, he repeated his lecture. Don't let anyone in. Don't leave the house until I'm there. Don't run with sharp objects. Ok, he didn't say that last one, but he might as well have. She was waiting for him to pass over a helmet and a bullet proof vest.

They pulled up out front of Tyra's house minutes later. Jeanne just now realized she didn't properly plan her back story since she never told Tyra she was coming over, and she was quite certain that Damon wouldn't drive away until she was safely inside the house.

"OK, so I'll call you when I'm ready to leave." Jeanne said and gave him a peck on the cheek before heading out.

Jeanne rang the bell and waited. What if Tyra wasn't home? How the hell would she explain that one.

Luckily, she didn't have to. Tyra's husband Christian answered the door seconds later.

"Jeanne, I wasn't expecting to see you." Christian said, surprised.

She turned and waved goodbye to Damon, and went inside with Christian.

"Tyra's not home. She went to her mother's house for the weekend." Christian said, once Jeanne was inside.

Well this actually worked out quite nicely. Now she wouldn't have to explain to Tyra why she would be coming and going.

"Oh, I had no idea she went away. I just wanted to come in and say hi since we haven't seen each other lately. Can you tell her to give me a call during the week?"

"Sure thing." Christian said, and opened up the door for Jeanne.

She hesitantly peaked outside before walking out. Damon was gone.

Jeanne then went on her way to the falls. It was a bit of a walk, but it was a nice night out, so she didn't mind.

As she walked down the quiet tree lined streets, she realized she was a lot more on edge than she had ever been walking through some of the roughest neighborhoods in New York. Compared to having your throat ripped out by a vampire, getting mugged didn't seem all that bad anymore.

She finally made it to the Falls and worked her way towards the bridge. She saw a petite figure in the distance. Bonnie was already there.

"Thank you so much for meeting me Bonnie." Jeanne said as she approached.

"It's no problem. You said earlier that nothing was wrong, that's not true is it?" Bonnie said with her witchly intuition.

Jeanne wasn't sure how much Bonnie knew about the Jesse situation, if anything, so she started from the beginning, working her way up to her conversation with Martina.

"So she told me to ask you to perform a suspension spell on me." Jeanne finally concluded.

Bonnie knew what a suspension spell was, but never performed one before. The spell only applied to links and this was the first known link she had ever heard of.

"The suspension spell is only useful if you were to die. Why do you think you need it? If you stay at Damon's house like he's telling you to, you'll be safe. Jesse won' t be able to get to you." Bonnie explained, clearly siding with Damon and Martina.

"I know that. But what if Jesse kills Damon? Then we're both dead anyway. If you place the suspension spell on me, and Jesse does kill me, he'll think Damon is dead too. He'll let his guard down." Jeanne said, and as she spoke those last words, Bonnie realized what Jeanne was trying to do.

"No, there's no way." Bonnie said indignantly. "You want to sacrifice yourself to Jesse like some kind of bait? I can't let you do that. It's insane…it could go wrong!"

"Bonnie please, I know I don't know much about this stuff, but I know that I can't sit back and watch as my life is played with like a chess piece. I know it's not the best plan, but it's not the worst one either. Jesse will be unguarded. Damon would be able to kill him and all of this will be over with. Then things can finally be normal." Jeanne pleaded.

Bonnie actually had to laugh. "If you think there's anything normal about living in Mystic Falls, then you really don't know much about this stuff at all." Bonnie said, then sighed. Bonnie had a feeling that if she didn't agree, Jeanne would attempt to do something even more dangerous without protection, and she couldn't allow that to happen either.

"So, let me see if I got this right. You're basically going to flaunt yourself in front of Jesse like a steak to a pitbull. Let him kill you. All the while Damon knows nothing about what you're doing?"

"Yes, basically. And that's where you come in again." Jeanne said, fearing Bonnies reaction to the next part of her plan. "I don't know how much Damon knows about how suspension spells work, or if he knows anything at all. Once I'm gone, I need you to explain to him what he has to do."

Bonnie couldn't help but smile. Not because she was amused in any way, but because she would once again be the bearer of bad news to Damon Salvatore.

It was crazy. Insane. Ludicrous. But Bonnie understood where Jeanne was coming from, after all…Elena would probably do the same.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bonnie looked Jeanne in the eyes.

"I'll do it."


	24. Chapter 24

Jeanne thought she would feel different afterwards. Not that she's ever had a spell placed on her before, but she has watched movies. The Craft, for example. She thought maybe there would be some shiny, bouncy hair side effect. Or a 34DD side effect. But there was none of that. She felt exactly the same. So much so that if not for the possessed look on Bonnies face and the sudden wind storm that assaulted her while Bonnie was chanting, she may have even thought Bonnie was faking the whole thing.

When the wind stopped howling, and Bonnie regained her teenage girl persona, Jeanne waited expectantly, as if some sage wisdom was going to follow.

"So what now?" Jeanne finally asked when the wisdom never came.

Bonnie sighed. "Well, the suspension spell is cast. Should something happen to you, Damon won't die right away." Bonnie said in a way that implied he would die eventually.

"You don't have much confidence that things will turn out ok." Jeanne said, not quite offended, but definitely concerned.

"Jeanne, it's not personal. But I've seen humans get in the way of this type of stuff. And honestly, it usually doesn't turn out ok."

Jeanne understood what Bonnie was saying, it didn't mean she liked hearing it.

"So why did you agree to do it?" Jeanne asked purely to satisfy a curiosity.

"I could just tell you weren't going to sit this one out, and I would rather you have some protection as opposed to none at all."

Jeanne remained quiet as she leaned over the railing of the bridge and stared out into the woods.

"You know, Damon and I met over a year ago in New Orleans. I had just gone through a really bad break up and I was in a bar with some friends. A fight broke out and I almost got hit with a bottle. He grabbed me so fast it didn't seem possible. I remember staring up at him for what felt like hours, it was only a few seconds, and I was thinking my boyfriend of four years just left me for a dead in a car crash, yet this complete stranger just saved me from getting pummeled in a bar fight."

Jeanne wasn't sure what came over her and why she was all of a sudden opening up about everything to a girl she barely knew, a student no less, but once her mouth started talking, it just couldn't seem to stop. Bonnie listened quietly.

"I think it was that exact moment that I got over my boyfriend. I mean I was still mad as hell at him for many months to come. But I got over the fact that he wasn't the one for me. No man would leave his girlfriend to die just to save his own ass, you know? Damon and I spent the night together that night then he erased my memory the next morning. I prefer to think he did it to save me the shame and embarrassment." Jeanne said with a far away laugh.

"And then he came to visit me in my dreams almost every night after that. Do you know he wouldn't let me talk? I mean it sounds pretty caveman when I think about it now. When I asked him about it, he said he didn't want to get too attached to me. So much for that, right?" Jeanne sighed. "I'm not pretending I know anything about any of this" Jeanne said, referring to all things supernatural. "What I do know is that I've almost died because the one person that was supposed to protect me chose not to. Maybe Damon is stronger than Jesse and doesn't need my help, but maybe he's not. Maybe it's not even about strength. Maybe it's just luck, but to be honest, I haven't been too lucky in my life so I don't feel too comfortable relying on it now. If I can do something that will give Damon the advantage, then I have to do it, I think I owe him that." Jeanne finally looked at Bonnie, the moonlight making her tear filled eyes twinkle.

Bonnie couldn't argue with her. And she sure as hell wasn't going to try to talk her out of it again. To be honest, a part of Bonnie admired her for what she was doing…as dangerous as it was.

"Since I'm the one who placed the spell on you, I'll feel it the moment you die. I'll make sure Damon knows what he has to do." Bonnie assured her.

Bonnie offered Jeanne a ride back, but Jeanne still had time to kill. She was supposed to at Tyra's house after all, not having spells placed on her in secluded forest areas. If she and Damon made it out of this whole thing alive, he was definitely going to kill her. She walked back slowly and was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even sense the person walking behind her. "No respectable woman walks alone this time of night." She heard the voice say.

Her heart quickened to an unimaginable speed. She turned around to see Jesse smiling down at her.

She wasn't ready. She didn't plan it out yet. This isn't how it's supposed to go.

"Julian, hi. You startled me." She stammered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm just coming back from a run. Where are you coming from?" He asked as he walked down the street beside her.

"The cemetery actually." She said, not wanting to completely lie since she hadn't known how long he had been following her for.

"The cemetery? At 10 o'clock at night?" He asked suspiciously.

She pretended to be embarrassed. "Yeah, it's sort of one of my weird quirks. I've always been fascinated by them. Don't tell anyone, they'll think I'm a freak." She said with a friendly smile.

"So, where are you off to now?" He asked.

"Home." She said. God this isn't how she wanted this to happen.

"I have a better idea. Let's go to your boyfriend's house." He said, and before she knew it, everything went black.


	25. Chapter 25

Jeanne woke up some time later. She couldn't tell you how long she'd been out, could have been 5 minutes, could have been 3 days.

She was in the backseat of a car that wasn't moving. She was confused. She didn't know how she had gotten there, where she was coming from, or where she was going. She had absolutely no recollection of the encounter she had with Jesse. All she knew right now was that she was in a car. When she tried to stretch her arms from the uncomfortable position she had been in for God knows how long, she was denied by the thick rope that held her arms in place. Slowly her memories started to flood back.

She tried to remember every episode of Macgyver she had ever seen, unfortunately that wasn't very many, and racked her brain to figure out a way to get out of this situation. She knew he hadn't killed Damon because she was still breathing, but that didn't mean he hasn't already hurt him in some way. The panic she felt over not knowing if Damon was okay completely muted the panic she had for her own personal well being. She had to get out of here.

She tugged at the ropes so hard and violently that she started to feel the trickle of blood fall into her palms. She maneuvered her body to try to unlock the doors, but the size of the backseat prevented her from accomplishing anything. She tried to kick the door open with every ounce of strength she had, but no to avail.

Out of breath and in considerable amounts of pain, she stopped. She couldn't let her panic make her act foolishly. She had to think. She didn't have much time.

The driver side door opened and Jesse calmly got in the car. He didn't turn around, but instead met her eyes in the rear view mirror. They looked different. Blacker.

"Where's Damon?" Jeanne asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky as it felt.

"You didn't think I'd go there without you…did you?" Jesse coolly replied.

"How long have I been in here?"

"Not long, hour or so." Jesse replied as he appeared to be typing a text message in his phone. Or at least she thought it was his phone, it was actually hers.

"Jesse, please don't do this. Whatever this is, please just think about what you're doing. He feels terrible for what he did to that girl, he wasn't himself—" Jeanne was cut off by Jesse's outrage as he turned to face her with could only be described as the face of evil.

"THAT GIRL was the only girl who ever gave a damn about me. Who I ever gave a damn about. He took everything away from me. You say he wasn't himself? You think that's a fucking excuse? Well I'm not myself either. I haven't been myself since 1944 and if you think for a fucking second that you pleading for mercy is going to change what I've been waiting seventy God damn years to do, you shouldn't be a teacher because you're a fucking moron.

Jeanne remained quiet. This was so much worse than she ever gave it credit for.

After several moments, she finally worked up the courage to speak again.

"So, what's your plan?" She asked, terrified of the answer, but unable to resist asking.

That's when Jesses expression went from evil to whatever is worse than that and smiled in a way that turned her stomach worse than the cruelest hangover. "Damon is going to watch me fuck you, then kill you." Jesse replied, turning the ignition and speeding off.

Damon was growing impatient. Yes, Jeanne was checking in every hour like she said she would. Her last text said 'watching a movie, call you when I'm ready'. But it wasn't good enough. He wanted her here, where he could see her and know she was ok.

He sat in the sitting room, phone clutched in his hand and waited. One more hour. That's all he was giving her, then he was going to Tyra's and bringing her home.

His phone ringing brought him back to reality. It didn't even ring a whole ring when he answered his, not looking at the caller ID.

"Are you ready?" He asked, assuming it was Jeanne.

"Damon, it's me." Bonnie said, her own voice filled with dread knowing how this conversation was about to go.

Damon sighed in disappointment and growing hostility. "What do you need Bonnie?"

"I have to tell you something." She said, postponing the inevitable.

"So tell me." He said, his impatience growing by the millisecond.

"I met with Jeanne earlier." She began, but paused again.

"Met with her where?" Damon asked, immediately knowing he was not going to be happy with where this conversation was going.

"At the bridge, she wanted—" Bonnie was cut off.

"At the bridge? What the fuck was she doing at the bridge? She was supposed to stay at her cousins house!" He demanded, as if Bonnie was responsible for Jeannes 'disobedience'.

"Damon, listen to me!" Bonnie demanded, and Damon grew quiet.

"She asked me to meet her at the bridge to perform a spell on her. Humans being linked to supernaturals is incredibly rare. But some witch somewhere in time must have known it was possible, so in order to protect the humans, she created a suspension spell. Knowing all supernaturals have their own handful of enemies, she didn't find it fair that a supernatural can go after a defenseless human in order to kill their target. With a suspension spell placed on her, if Jeanne were to die by the hands of something supernatural, you wouldn't die immediately. You would have a very limited amount of time to find who, or what killed her, and kill them in return. If you were able to do that, Jeanne's death would only be temporary. She made me do it because she's going to use herself as bait so that if Jesse kills her, he'll be off guard not expecting you to be alive and you can go after him." Bonnie finished, and took a deep…deep breath.

Damon was quiet. Terrifyingly quiet.

"And you agreed to do it?" His voice was steady, dripping with venom.

"Would you rather I didn't do it and she got involved with no protection whatsoever? I tried to talk her out of it Damon. I told her how insane it was but she wasn't hearing it. The way she spoke about you Damon, she's basically willing to risk everything for you."

Hearing Bonnie say that actually made Damon's chest hurt.

What has he gotten her into.

Damon hung up the phone without another word.

Knowing now what Bonnie had just told him, he knew something was wrong. He felt it with every fiber of his being. He's felt it for the past hour. He kept telling himself that it was just nerves, that he was being paranoid, but deep down the uneasy feeling wouldn't subside. He had to get to her.

Jesse rounded the corner of Damon's block in record time. Speeding down the block like a bat out of hell, which he kind of was. He screeched to a halt in the circular driveway and had Jeanne at the front door before she even knew what was happening.

So this is what Bonnie meant when she said humans getting involved never turned out ok. This was not turning out ok. This was not apart of her plan. Damon will be caught off guard. Jeanne was going to die today, and she was going to take Damon with her. The sensation of fear was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the guilt that was burning every inch of her body. This was her fault. She should have stayed out of it. Damon would be safe if she wasn't so God damn stubborn.

Before Jesse made his big entrance, he wanted to give the whole scene a dramatic effect. He clamped down on Jeanne's neck with a vengeance. It hurt. It was excruciating. But as soon as it came, it was gone, leaving a stream of red down Jeanne's neck. She wanted to cry and scream and beg, but she wouldn't give Jesse the satisfaction. If this is how it's going to be, she was going to go out with her pride intact.

Without removing his hands from the restrictive hold he had on Jeanne, Jesse blasted the door open with a fury so great she was surprised it remained on the hinges.

He stalked into the house with a purpose nearly bumping into Damon as he turned into the sitting room. For the first time in 68 years, the two men came face to face, with Jeanne being the only thing that separated them.

Jesse tossed Jeanne off to the side with the minimal effort it takes a human to throw a Frisbee. She slammed into the wall and fell to the ground like a rag doll. Damon's natural instinct was to run to her, but Jesse held him in place with nothing but a stare, making Damon feel like he was in a coffin with no ability to move.

"You know, 68 years is nothing to someone who's never going to die. But when you spend 68 years searching for one person and wanting revenge so badly that you eat, sleep and drink it…68 years becomes a long fucking time." Jesse said, almost nostalgically, as if he were pleasantly reminiscing of the years he spent searching for Damon.

"When I found out about her." Jesse said, motioning to a battered and bruised Jeanne, "I felt like I hit the mother fucking lotto. Not only are you in love with a human, but she's your link? Do you know how fucking priceless that is? Literally, I can't put a price tag on what I would have paid to make this possible. I don't think the number even exists." Jesse roamed the room, intentionally knocking breakables off their tabletops as he passed, getting satisfaction at them shattering at his feet.

"I didn't even know it was possible before I spoke to Martina. And what timing, right? Had I thought to contact Martina 30, 40, 50 years ago, this little angel wouldn't have even been born. The only thing I'd be able to kill is you. Now I get two for the price of one." Jesse said, once again knocking the carafe of whiskey off the serving tray, watching as it shattered and splashed over the mahogany floors.

"Honestly, this plan has been in the works for quite some time now. Once I found out you two were linked, and I put you together in New Orleans, I really thought you would hit it off then and what I plan on doing tonight would have been done way back then. But you let her get away. I can't even tell you how much that pissed me off. It took me a while to come up with a plan to get her down here. First getting her cousin's family to move down here. Then getting the mother-in-law a job as principal of the high school. Then getting the cousin to convince her to move her. God it was exhausting. But, as you can see, it was all well worth it." Jesse said with a satisfied smile as he stood face to face with Damon once again.

Damon had never felt a fury like this in his life. It was so strong he thought it might kill him before anyone else got the chance.

"Jesse you don't want her, you want me." Damon said through gritted teeth.

Jesse actually laughed. "Don't want her? She's exactly what I want. You get to watch me kill her just like you killed Shelby. I'm going to drain every ounce of life that is left in her. And the best part of it is, the second I drink that last drop. You're going to drop dead with her. This shit is better than a fucking movie." Jesse said, almost giddy.

"I'm going to be honest with you." Jesse continued. "My original plan was to make you watch as I banged her brains out." Jesse said as he glanced over at Jeanne who was terrified and injured. "But she looks a little pathetic right now and it's kind of a turn off. So I'll just stick with the second part of my plan." And in the blink of an eye, Jesse yanked Jeanne up against the wall and tore into her neck like a rabid beast.

Damon fought like a demon against the invisible barrier that was holding him in place, but there was nothing he can do. He was trapped.

And despite having the knowledge of Jeanne being under the protection of the suspension spell, Damon felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest as he watched her writhe in unbearable pain. Actually, this is definitely more painful than having his heart ripped from his chest.

Jesse became drunk off the blood. He was completely lost to his purpose and nothing around him mattered. Except for the knowledge that Damon was witnessing all of it.

Jesse knew when Jeanne was just about drained, but with the slightest spark of life still left in her, he turned to face Damon. He didn't say anything, but he smiled. A smile that was distorted by Jeanne's blood.

He then turned back to the finish the job, and dropped a lifeless Jeanne to his feet.

Jesse really wasn't sure how this whole 'link' thing really worked, but he hoped there was just a slight delay between Jeanne's death and Damon's so he can witness Damon's 160 years come to an end.

And by slight delay, he meant seconds. Not what he was about to get.

Jesse being so enthralled by Jeanne's blood, he unintentionally let his mental guard down and the barrier he had on Damon released. When he turned to face him with smug satisfaction, he was met with an iron fist around his neck and the face of a vampire scorned.

"You stupid son of a bitch." Damon said, seconds before driving a vervain soaked stake straight through Jesse's heart. Jesse had no time to react. He died staring into the eyes of the man he has hated since World War II.

Damon tossed Jesse's body aside and ran to Jeanne. Her skin was gray and cold. He felt for a pulse, but there was nothing. For the first time in as long as Damon could remember, he felt tears sting his eyes. "Wake up. Jeanne, please, wake up." Damon cradled her motionless body in his arms for what seemed like hours, days even. He waited, and waited and the more time passed, the less he believed she was coming back to him. He felt a demon growing inside of him that was about to kill everything in sight. It was at this exact moment that he realized what Jesse felt that night. He also realized that he didn't blame him for doing what he did, because right now he would have done the same exact thing. But Damon had a responsibility to Jeanne, not Jesse. And if killing him meant keeping her safe, then unfortunately that's what he was going to do. But she's not safe. She's not waking up. The wound on her neck was vile.

And then he saw something. It was for an instant, but he definitely saw it. The wound started to close. And then he saw it again. And then again. Within minutes all that was left on Jeanne's neck was her blood, but the wound was gone. His heart raced so fast he would have definitely thought he was having a heart attack, if that kind of thing was possible. He watched in awe as color slowly, but surely returned to her cheeks. And he waited, holding his breath waiting for her to take one of her own. And she did.

After several unsteady breaths, Jeanne sucked in a giant gasp of air and opened her eyes wide.

She was disoriented, unsure of what was happening. Until she locked eyes with Damon. She remembered back when she thought that a man with eyes that blue could not be trusted. But right this second, she trusted him with everything she had.

"Is it over?" She asked, her voice soft and small, as if speaking any louder would ruin everything.

"It's over." He assured her.

As the seconds passed, she felt life flood into her body.

She propped herself up and noticed Jesse's body laying a few feet away. She couldn't help the pang of guilt and sadness she had as she looked at him. The dread she felt earlier not knowing if Damon was ok was enough to send her into a tailspin. She couldn't imagine having to witness the one person you've ever loved being taken from you, and she didn't blame him for doing what he did. But as she said before, Damon was different back then. And right now all she wanted was some semblance of a normal life with Damon. The fact that Jesse had to pay the price for that was unfortunate, and probably unfair. But life and fair rarely go in the same sentence.

Damon took Jeanne home that night, asking Stefan to clean up the mess and not wanting to put Jeanne through any more torture by having to witness it. The second she walked into her house, she felt electrically alive and utterly exhausted all at the same time, if there were even possible.

Jeanne let Damon lead her upstairs to the bedroom, and he helped her into bed. The second Jeanne hit the bed, she felt like she could sleep for days. But she wasn't ready for sleep just yet. She still wasn't totally convinced that this was all real. She was scared that if she closed her eyes, she would wake up and realize it was all a dream. And that real life would be a nightmare. She watched Damon quietly as he took his shoes off, then his shirt, and got into bed with her. The second he hit the bed she wrapped her body against his, wanting to experience everything that would prove he was real, and really with her.

Damon gently stroked her hair as they both lay quietly. She finally broke the silence.

"What happens now?" She asked, finally turning her head to stare up at him.

He smiled down at her. "Now you go to bed and iIll be here when you wake up." He said and gently kissed her lips. Jeanne fell asleep minutes later. And yes, Damon was in her dreams, but not because he forced his way in, but because that's exactly where she wanted him to be.


End file.
